Movie Review: Stardust

In a wry admission of "Stardust's" gleeful, impossible-to-market genre-bending, a poster tagline touts the film as "the fairy tale that won't behave". Neither a large-scale epic nor a testament to childlike wonder, as most recent such films tend to be, it must inevitably invite comparisons to "The Princess Bride" as the only other adult-oriented fantasy movie. But, and this is important, boys and girls, "Stardust" is not and never was a knock-off of Rob Reiner's classic. It is very much its own spellbinding, wondrous creation. Familiar motifs like wicked witches, scheming princes, wise mentors and a damsel in distress add a delicately old-fashioned air to the proceedings, but the characters present a decidedly modern take on fairy tale archetypes.

Our story opens in the town of Wall, an ordinary British village bordering the realms of faery. Young hero Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries vainly to woo his love Victoria (Sienna Miller). When the pair see a shooting star, the desperate Tristan makes a bargain with the rather conceited object of his affection - if he retrieves the star within the week, she will marry him. Aided by a magical candle, a gift from his faery mother, he sets off, and is rather surprised when the star turns out not to be a lump of celestial ore but rather a lovely woman(Claire Danes). Yvaine certainly has no intention of becoming an engagement gift.

The antagonistic spark between proud Yvaine and gallantly gawky Tristan never quite develops into the screwball-esque fire of clever comebacks and quick quips which the filmmakers aimed for, but it does maintain a steady glow of stinging sarcasm. Although their romantic destiny won't surprise, the quietly luminous chemistry between Cox and Danes ensures it enchants.

Alas for poor Yvaine, souls more nefarious than Tristan are searching for the fallen star - after all, Tristan doesn't want to hurt the star, just present her (kidnap is such an ugly word) to Victoria. Wicked witch Lamia and fratricidal brothers Septimus and Primus both seek her. Lamia, played by the astonishingly gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer, is a sorceress of the highest order, prone to the more gruesome acts of magic - like divining via animal entrails and eating the hearts of stars to stay young and beautiful. Pfeiffer gleefully embraces Lamia's malicious nature, as well as the mortification (and amusement) of her increasing decrepitude as the previous star's power wears off. Septimus and Primus, on the other hand, are seeking a necklace which will grant one of them the throne - although they won't turn down immorality.

"Stardust" merrily breaks from usual fairytale conventions. Tristan is no knight in shining armor with Yvaine as the helplessly lovely maiden, nor is there a blatant effort to turn her into some proto-feminist who lectures her hapless beau in the ways of righteousness, as recent revisionist fairytale films have done. No, the lovers are fairly evenly matched. In another clever twist, the mentor so critical to the archetypal hero's journey from boy to man is the fierce, pitiless, dress-wearing Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro). Wait, what? Yes, it turns out the bellicose pirate is a gentle, pacifistic, well-read "woopsie". De Niro hams it up a bit - okay, a lot, adopting a strangely dainty, almost girlish inflection - but it remains an entertaining and, ultimately, commendable approach.

Perhaps “Stardust’s” most striking change lies in its attitude towards magic. Magic, and the CGI required to create it on film, serves the story, rather than the film having been built around special effects, dazzling as they are. As such, it helps transport viewers into the realm of the fantastic, but would certainly have failed without such a charmingly romantic, wondrous story. Stardust glitters brilliantly with a pure magic too rarely seen in films.

Grade: 95