Stardust

'Good Gaiman, Good'

So as you may or may not know, there is a little heralded fantasy film currently in theaters titled Stardust and based off of the novel of the same name written by Neil Gaiman. If you didn't know, then it is your lucky day for me to tell you about it and express a wish for you to go see it. Many comparisons for the film have dubbed it a ripoff of Princess Bride or some other such nonsense. Honestly, I would feel refresed with a Princess Bride knockoff right now with all the Harry and literary fantasy look alikes. The moniker of Princess Bride is only true in terms of tone. This fantasy film unlike many others combines several of the same elements as Princess Bride, mostly humor and the themes of love and acceptance. Since it is a Neil Gaiman property you can believe that there is some excellent ideas thrown about and what on the surface appears to be your typical romantic fantasy tale, instead becomes a tale of how what makes a person who they are isn't their status or royalty or looks. The movie is directed by Matthew Vaughn who directed Layer Cake and was one point attached to X-Men 3. I hear now though that he might be attached to an upcoming Thor movie which after having seen this film should be amazing, since it is obvious that he has a great imagination that is necessary for fantasy and knows how to communicate his ideas and characters to the actors perfectly. None of the characters in this film are boring, even the ones that are typically straight forward parts. I'm not saying that some do better than others, just that all of the actors are entertaining and amusing in their own fashion. Considering the scope and scale of this adventure, I believe Vaughn did an extremely good job in bringing the vision to life. However, and this is the killer, either on Gaiman's side or on Vaughn's...sometimes the pacing is too slow. It starts slow and I noticed several times when the picture should have been cut slightly sooner, which is not a good thing to notice. However, considering the genre-breaking work he is handling, it is hard to blame Vaughn for not being completely sure how to handle the editing. I hear that Across the Universe is sharing some similar woes currently in its test screenings. Besides the slow moving moments though, this film is a real gem.

As for actors, there is one real reason to see this movie, Robert De Niro. Not because he does an excellent job, in fact he might have been one of the worse believable ones in the cast, but because seeing him play that type of character is a real treat for fans of De Niro whom have probably never seen him in such a light. The other real reason to see this film is Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia. After all the years she is still crazy hot and yet I have never seen her in a bad role. Why doesn't she do more work? I bet its because Hollywood is absolutely nuts, although no where near as nuts as her puberty making role in this film. Another great one to look for is the affable and excellently acted protagonist played by Charlie Cox. Seriously, this guy is good and has a future. He's probably a jerk in real life or something but I would never know from this film. Claire Danes is okay but pales compared to her other majorly famous love role as Juliet, which I'm sure she's tired of being linked to. but think about this, the film is so amazing that it even has Ian McKellan as a narrator...a narrator! Seriously, this film rocks and is a good addition to the fantasy canon that I must one day own.

4,5 out of 5