Brilliant! A perfect 'relax and forget the world' movie

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2007)

Stardust is the kind of film that reminds you why you keep going down the DVD rental shop, buying Empire magazine and visiting this site: it's a gem that the majority of people will overlook, but everyone who takes the time to check it out will have an absolute blast. It might not have set the box office on fire, but cult devotion beckons, partly because of the Neil Gaiman connection, but also because it's one of those rare examples of script writing where everything fits into a cohesive whole. All the multiple plot strands are wrapped up neatly, the story takes it's time and is in no rush and despite the fantasy setting, Stardust is just as keen to laugh at itself as it is to enchant the audience.
Set in ye olde England where the concept of stumbling into a fantastical world of Unicorns, witches, magic and flying boats is the start of a terrific adventure rather than a reality-blurring head trip, Stardust tells the story of Tristran Thorn (Charlie Cox), a likable but aimless country youth. Desperate to cop off with Sienna Miller's village bike, he crosses the wall that surrounds the town in order to find a piece of a star that's fallen to earth and return it to her as a demonstration of love. His efforts are waylaid however when the star doesn't turn out to be a lump of space rock, but a feisty Clare Danes who isn't exactly pleased to be a wedding present. Throw in an evil trio of witches (led by Michelle Pfeiffer) looking for the secret of youth and the dastardly Prince Septimus and Tristran's simple act of crossing a wall, picking up a rock and walking back turns into an epic adventure of romance, swashbuckling and fun.
By now, with all this talk of Unicorns and such like, there's bound to be a few people out there whose eyes are rolling at the thought of yet another fantasy adventure clogging up the screens, but Stardust has an edge on the competition. Where the likes of Eragon relied on special effects and wide shots of the New Zealand countryside to enchant people and usually fell flat, Stardust concentrates on the story. The special effects are kept to a minimum and you're encouraged to pay attention to the one-liners and sparkling dialogue, rather than ogle hordes of sword wielding clichés. In this respect, Stardust's closest relative is The Princess Bride, a story that was shot through with a similar degree of knowing humour without jeopardising the central premise.
Stardust in short, is a film tailor made for the Christmas television schedules. It transports you to another world and for over two hours, you can sit back, get swept up in it and forget about the mortgage, car insurance and the miserable next door neighbours that keep throwing mashed up watermelon slices onto your patio floor. With a cast that consists largely of British TV comedy regulars, it's no surprise that the sense of freewheeling fun never diminishes. It might be stereotypical, but this is no two dimensional children's movie, it's one the entire family can enjoy: toddlers, sulky teenagers, direction-less twenty somethings, parents and grandparents all.