A Princess Bride for a new decade

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2007)

2007 has been a great year for movie lovers. Sure you had to look through the big name drek that was Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, or Transformers....but it was there. Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men, Letters From Iwo Jima, Ratatouille and I'd even go as far to say that the latest Harry Potter film were all great. I would like to add another film to the list of great 2007 releases...Stardust. Stardust has been gathering lots of comparisons to The Princess Bride and I can see why. They are both fantasy films with a fairly quirky sense of humor. And they both share the central theme of love and acceptance. So yes, they are similar in that regard, but that's about it. I didn't get the sense of deja vu while watching Stardust at all. Is Stardust the better movie? I love The Princess Bride, and I now love Stardust, but PB is a classic movie that has stood the test of time...I wouldn't dare say that Stardust is better...but give it 10 years and we'll see how it fairs. The movie takes its time getting to the meat of the story, but it's nice to see a movie that actually lets us get to know these characters before throwing them into some big adventure. A clumsy shop boy named Tristan is madly in love with the beautiful Victoria, but she plans to marry someone else (unless Tristan can convince her before her birthday). When the two see a falling star, he tells her that he'd retrieve the star for her in exchange for her hand in marriage. She agrees and that's the start of our little adventure. In an effort to keep spoilers to a minimum, I will not go into great detail on the plot. Let's just say that Tristan is not the only person seeking the star (who turns out to be in the form of a young lady named Yvaine). A witch (played by the still incredibly sexy Michelle Pfeiffer) seeking immortality and a trio of princes seeking to become king are also hot on Yvaine's trail. Along the way Tristan meets some unusual characters, but my favorite by far was Captain Shakespeare (played by Robert DeNiro). Captain Shakespeare is just a classic character if there ever was one. I thought DeNiro was a great choice for the role. Since I don't want to spoil any of the jokes or the various twists and turns, I'll keep it simple; I loved the movie. It was quite funny (and not afraid to poke fun at itself), exciting, romantic and good hearted. I give the movie my highest recommendation and I pray that word of mouth can give the movie a bigger box office take than it got this weekend (or perhaps a bigger life via DVD....again like Princess Bride). One more thing, there are few movies out there that I feel have perfect endings (Before Sunset, Pan's Labyrinth, ROTK...), but for me, Stardust's ending was pitch perfect. 2007's top 10 is going to be an interesting one!
A+