The best thing about this film is its catchy theme song by Take That; what does that tell you?

Rating: 3/10 (25 October 2008)

Clare Danes plays a falling star (although perhaps Robert De Niro, one of the film's other big names, would've been more convincing, given his recent track record) sought after by a love-struck young man (Charlie Cox), a trio of witches (led by Michelle Pfeiffer's evil Lamia), and a prince hoping to become an immortal king (Mark Strong).
With a rating of 8.0 on IMDb, a splendid array of dazzling special effects, and a brilliant cast featuring several Hollywood big hitters (plus the inexplicably rich and famous Ricky Gervaisa case of scriptwriter Jane Goldman's husband Jonathan Ross calling in a favour, perhaps?), I was expecting Stardust to be the perfect Saturday night family movie for me, the missus and the kids. Boy, was I wrong.
Adapted from a book by cult novelist Neil Gaiman (who wrote the equally disappointing and over-rated Mirrormask), Stardust is a bland, unsatisfying mess of mis-matched moments cobbled together from a plethora of stale fantasy ingredients: wizened witches, a magical kingdom, a hero unaware that he has already found his true love, a benevolent unicorn... etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Occasionally, there can be found the odd spark of originality, but, more often than not, these moments are quickly extinguished by the film's endless tidal wave of terribly predictable tosh.
Another major problem I found with this film is that Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn desperately wants it to be all things to everyone: an oh-so magical experience for the kids, but a more subversive ride for the adults (for a family film, there is way too much sex and death, and that's coming from a bloodthirsty pervert like me!!!). The end result fails on all levels: it's too meandering and meaningless for children; its mawkish sentimentality should have most adults gagging; and parents will probably be squirming in their seats for the duration, hoping that their children don't understand the more suggestive content or suffer nightmares from the violence.
Reading others' comments here on this website, I have noticed that many have likened Stardust to the brilliant The Princess Bride. There's only one thing I can say to that: 'Inconceivable'!