A Notch Above Your Average Fantasy Movie

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2007)

Old Pirate: (to Captain Shakespeare, after finding him in drag) We always knew you were a whoopsie...
Usually I hate these types of 'fantasy' movies. With the exception of the brilliant 'Lord of the Rings Trilogy' and the charming 'Princess Bride', these fairy tale movies can't hold my interest. Going into 'Stardust' I didn't know what to expect. I thought it could be great, but it could also be a huge, long, stupid bore like most films in the same genre. Well...what I got was a very good film, nothing spectacular, but in a year like 2007 where most of the movies are laughably bad, 'Stardust' is one of the best thus far. The story is silly and doesn't make 100% of sense, but for the most part aside from a few dragging sequences 'Stardust' is a vastly entertaining motion picture with humorous performances. Michelle Pfeiffer returns to the screen after a hiatus of sorts as the film's villain. She is great. Charlie Cox is solid as the lead, as is Claire Danes. The rest of the cast is solid, but I'd like to give kudos to The Office's Ricky Gervasis and of course, 2-Time Academy Award Winner Robert DeNiro playing against type as a gay cross-dressing sky pirate. Even though he doesn't show up until over half of the film is over, DeNiro was the highlight of 'Stardust' for me. Some critics panned his performance as being too hammy and over-the-top, but seeing as though 'Stardust' is a "FANTASY" movie, I saw the more hammy the better. DeNiro made me laugh uproariously, along with most everyone else in the movie theater I was in. The biggest downfall of 'Stardust' is that it's overlong. It would have been a better film if they trimmed a few minutes especially towards the end. All in all, I recommend 'Stardust' for anybody in the mood for an enjoyable little action romp. Grade: B