Fun and delightful journey

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2015)

A funny thing happened on my second viewing of this movie. I saw it when it was first released back in 2007 but apart from finding the special effects a little overblown, I was nowhere near as touched as I was watching the second time. Not sure if the difference is 8 years of additional maturity and life experience on my part, or that during the second viewing I saw the movie on its own merits rather than alongside a rerun of The Princess Bride in my head, and away from the rather pushy marketing when it was first released.
I suspect that anyone who has a strong reaction to watching the characters is reacting to its portrayal of innocence. Through young Tristan we inhabit a character who is the embodiment of innocence and all it represents to us, such as trust, hope and youth/purity. At the start of the movie he is young and inexperienced, and he keenly feels it, confiding in his unrequited sweetheart Victoria about how he yearns to travel to exotic places just to fetch her a boon, not just Ipswich to buy her a ring. Despite his brave face, the humiliation of being beaten down by Victoria's preferred suitor Humphrey, and being identified as 'just a shop boy' lowers his spirits, but does not harden him. Despite his innocence Tristan is not naive; the power of his innocence comes from staying true to himself and having hope and faith despite of the setbacks and dangers he faces. It is trusting that your path is the right one for you, and keeping steadfast to it. In a less fantastical movie, innocence would have to be tempered with more cynicism, caution and an underlying belief that the only way to achieve his goals would be to go it alone. For this reason, all movies about the journey of an innocent are ensemble movies by necessity. Tristan cannot achieve his goals by virtue of innocence alone, but it his purity of heart which allows him to trust any mentors who happen on his path, and in doing so, they both learn from each other. Tristan's refreshing authenticity brings out the best part of Captain Shakespeare, and in return our hero gains confidence in himself and his abilities to achieve his ends.
Young Tristan sets out to find a shooting star to prove his love to a village girl, but unknown to him, the star has powers that restore lost youth. The witches and princes also pursuing the shooting star for her gift of everlasting life and youth are wonderfully realized. Watching it the second time it occurred to me that their pursuit of prolonged youth is actually an attempt to reclaim lost innocence just for themselves. Stripped down to just its superficial traits, innocence embodies the younger self, unmarred, unaffected by the cruel life they have lived. The villains want to undo the effects of their harsh their lives and return to a state closer to purity – even if it is only skin deep. The biggest revelation to me on this second viewing was that despite the star Yvaine being the object of pursuit, the powers possessed by her character are the reflection of the qualities personified in Tristan, making the greatest treasure in this movie his strength, genuineness and his innocence.