Too much dust on this star ...

Rating: 4/10 (26 October 2007)

I love science-fantasy movies more than virtually anything else! Aliens, terminators, gremlins, wizards, hobbits or Jedi ... I love to travel to other worlds full of weird and wonderful creatures. So naturally: as soon as I found out that "Stardust" was also going to be a fantasy film, my expectations ran very high. I ended up being somewhat disappointed because of two reasons. First of all: I expected too much. I thought this would be another dazzling film that would spawn many sequels such as "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter". Secondly and most importantly: this movie is a soft-hearted fairytale for children. There are no dark creatures or massive battles to be found. There is hardly even any magic at all; with the exception of three ugly witches doing what they do best. Thus the movie was not what I had anticipated.
The make-up department of this movie surely had their work cut out for them for they had to turn Michelle Pfeiffer into an ugly witch. They did a great job seeing as how one of the most gorgeous women ever in Hollywood indeed looked unattractive in this film. Fortunately: we get to see a lot more of the original Michelle Pfeiffer than the transformed ugly one. Ever since her come-back, this is the second time in a row that the beautiful blonde plays an evil character (the first one was in the hilarious musical "Hairspray") and she clearly enjoys this change in her career. Another famous actor who stars in this fantasy film is Robert De Niro. He plays the part of Captain Shakespeare and both his character as well as his performance are quite something else and funny at the same time. There is also Claire Danes whom you may recognize from "Romeo & Juliet" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the machines". She plays the part of Yvaine - the fallen star who becomes the centre of everything that will occur in this movie.
The storyline however is the cause for my discontent. It is so lifeless. It doesn't contain much more than a young man named Tristan searching for a fallen star and bringing it back as a present to the woman he loves. The entire movie shows us Tristan and Yvaine walking from the fantasy world to the human world. During their journey they encounter many mildly interesting characters. An extremely beautiful witch, a brave yet corrupt warrior who turns out to be one of 7 sons of the king and the only one who's still alive and a flying vessel full of pirates who desperately need to catch as much lightning as possible. The duel at the end of the movie is by far the most captivating moment; I believe. The rest of the movie is mediocre at best.
Nevertheless: I found the sons of the king to be very entertaining. Virtually all of them had died and thus were mostly ghosts throughout this film. That's why they served as an audience delivering clever one-liners and always having a front row seat with everything that transpired in this movie. Unfortunately: such delights are few and far between and whilst this movie is probably entertaining enough, it is almost never really funny.
In short: A perfect movie for children or anyone who likes cute and cheerful fantasy films that hold no darkness whatsoever. I, on the other hand, prefer more mature fantasy films that feature awe-inspiring battles as well as numerous ingenious creatures! The everlasting beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer is always a joy to watch and makes up for this!