Could Have Been A 10

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2007)

People are comparing Stardust to The Princess Bride because of it's fairy tale content and humor. Stardust is a nice enjoyable film, but it does not match the wonder and beauty of The Princess Bride. Robert DeNiro is brilliant as Captain Shakespeare. Shakespeare is a different type of role for DeNiro and he embraces the role to create a wonderful character you care about. You can see that DeNiro enjoyed his role within every shot of screen. Claire Danes is magnificent as Yvaine. Danes creates the inner beauty the character needs to make the story work and you root for her the entire film. Michelle Pfeiffer is wickedly delightful as Lamia. Pfeiffer not only plays the wicked witch, but brings some humor and life to the character to make her more interesting. Where the film is lacking is in the lead role. Charlie Cox is very weak as Tristran. He does not have the charisma that Carey Elwes had in The Princess Bride and he does not bring life to his character. Cox has more of a cardboard type performance that almost brings the film down to a B-movie standard. Overall, this is a wonderful film. The creators should have gotten a better lead to make it a better movie, but it is still highly enjoyable and worth watching. Not The Princess Bride, but close enough.