Stardust A Pleasant Surprise

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2009)

Let me first start off by saying I'm not a big fan of these movies but this one surpassed my expectations and as a man I'm not embarrassed to say that. Without giving too much of the plot away for those of you who haven't seen it or read the book. Stardust is an action adventure fantasy fairy tale with a coming of age story, romance, and plenty of humor. The talented cast do a magnificent job including Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfieffer, and Robert De Niro. Claire Danes was the perfect choice as Yvaine. Claire's strikingly beautiful, smart, and feisty completely believable as the fallen star who crashes to Earth. She's a remarkable actress one of the very best in Hollywood today. She's been excellent in all her films and continues to prove it in Stardust. Well done. Newcomer Charlie Cox also does a good job as Tristan the poor boy who becomes a man and later the hero. Claire Danes and Charlie Cox had great chemistry together that really showed on the screen. Michelle Pfieffer is a solid villain deliciously evil as the sexy witch Lamia and Robert De Niro is terrific as Captain Shakespare the fearsome pirate with a hilarious secret. In fact everything about this film was great. Stardust is fast paced even with a running time of over two hours and it leaves you entertained by the end. Not too many movies come along where you care for the characters and you feel part of the adventure. The director Matthew Vaughn did an admirable job doing that adapting the movie from a book by best selling author Neil Gaiman. He brought this fantastic imaginary world to life giving time for the characters and romance to develop with decent action sequences plus lots of hilarious moments that will make you crack up laughing at least I did. Stardust was a pleasant surprise from all the threequels that came out in 2007 some good - The Bourne Ultimatum and Shrek The Third - some okay but over-hyped and somewhat disappointing - Spider-Man 3 and Pirates 3 - and others that were just horrible - Rush Hour 3 to name one. Hollywood should really start making more films like Stardust with a compelling story, memorable characters who are well developed, action, adventure, romance, and humor instead of just trying to cash in on a quick buck. Overall Stardust was the perfect example of a great fairy tale done right. It's got something in it for just about everyone. Definitely one of the best movies that came out during the summer of 2007. As long as you enjoy watching movies and like to escape into a fantastic imaginary world for two hours then go see it. You won't be disappointed.