Movie Review - Stardust

Monday, September 24, 2007

Movie Review - Stardust

Starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Robert De Niro, and Ian McKellan.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Running Time: 128 Minutes

Rated PG-13 for some fantasy violence and risque humor.

Stardust is the story of a young man named Tristan who promises a woman to retrieve a fallen star for her hand in marriage. Tristan starts off on this task and must cross 'THE WALL' in order to get to where the star fell. Crossing the wall puts him into a magical world completely different than his own. He finds the star and in the magical world, the star is a young woman. In his attempt to bring the star back to the regular world, Tristan experiences true love and fights to save the star from a witch, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Stardust is an epic tale of love set in a fantasy world full of princes, witches, pirates, and more. It is an interesting departure from your standard fantasy fare as it has a distinct cynical overtone while throwing some interesting character turns. For instance, there is a scene with Robert De Niro that is just plain hilarious. I won't ruin it for you here, however, it is quite against stereotype of a Pirate and played well, so it is not TOO CRAZY.

I really enjoyed Stardust and the entire film experience. The directing was nothing special, however the acting from all the players were spot on. None rose above the other, but all worked together to bring the fantasy tale to life. Some interestingly twisted characters allowed big name actors like De Niro and Pfeiffer to kick back and sink into a role that didn't require any hard acting preparation. You can tell that they had fun with the roles as it drips off their on screen presence. Relative newcomer, Charlie Cox grounds the story in a sweet, earnest sentiment that helps to bring a sort of charm to the hard edged story.

Without a lot of budget or a lot of CGI, when compared to other Hollywood fantasy tales, the director doesn't rely on it and thus creates a little bit more believable fantasy world with what he can. I have always been a fan of fantasy films, however Hollywood hasn't produced a whole lot until Lord of the Rings hit. From that time, every studio wanted a fantasy trilogy to market and Stardust seems to be one of those films. In times it feels rushed to get out to an audience before fantasy is not cool again, but other times shows some great depth and character development.

Stardust is a very well made show that entertains completely. Check it out for yourself at Cinema 3 in McCook at the Westview Plaza. Stardust plays nightly at 7, but check out www.fridleytheatres.com for more info and showtimes on all shows.

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