Fluffy and a bit weak, but nice anyway

Rating: 6/10 (2 March 2008)

This is fantasy taken to its happy, cheesy, corny, fluffy extreme, and I really should hate it a lot more then I do. Stardust is a ridiculously shallow and cheery film that isn't executed very well at all, yet it JUUUUUST manages to keep me from turning it off in disgust, with a pleasant storyline and good special effects to disguise its mediocrity. The characters are not really developed at all, remaining cardboard cutouts on a colorful backdrop - but at least they are cardboard cutouts that are pleasant to look at. The aesthetics here are top-notch, but they are disguising a flimsy, weak story that has been told many times before. This is a popcorn movie for families, not a movie for critics, so I'll give it an average score and not bother critiquing anything more. Recommended if this is your thing.