A Fairy Tale for Adults

Rating: 8/10 (14 August 2007)

Stardust, which is adapted from Neil Gaiman's novel, despite my early skepticism translates very well onto film. After reading the book, I was slightly worried that the essence of the story wouldn't be captured on screen, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Matthew Vaughn's movie, like Gaiman's novel, does an excellent job of tackling serious themes like love and loss without ever taking itself too seriously. These comedic tones, which can be seen as subtle jabs to some fantasy epics, are what really led to my enjoyment of the book and the movie.
Matthew Vaughn's talents in the directors chair have given the movie viewing public another excellent film. He does a great job of keeping the viewer completely emerged in what is happening to the characters throughout the film. While slightly over two hours long the film never once drags or feels bloated with needless characters or subplots (aka Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest). Working with a $70 million budget, which is a somewhat small budget for a fantasy film, Vaughn brings to life the Village of Wall and the kingdom Stormhold in such great detail. He takes Gaiman's descriptions of places, characters, and events and displays them magnificently on screen. He also manages to get some great performances from his entire cast.
Newcomer Charlie Cox plays the main character of Tristran Thorn with great presence and charisma. He does a great job with the transformation from the lovable loser to the brave hero. Mark Strong also stole the show as the power hungry prince Septimus. Even though he was the "villian" of the film I hated to see anything happen to him because he brought so much to every scene that he was in. Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes, and Sienna Miller also gave admirable performances in their supporting roles.
The marketing campaign is the only thing that I have to complain about for this film. They did a terrible job of showing the public what this movie was going to be about. In any of the adds that I saw do you ever really get a glimpse of what the plot is going to entail. There was just random clips of Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. While they were both good in the film, they were not in any way the main characters of the movie. I just hope good word of mouth will help this movie get the recognition it deserves to have!