A future cult movie?

Rating: 7/10 (31 August 2007)

Sometimes there is a movie that goes unheard of, ignored by most, sometimes pounded by negative critics and suddenly, some years later, it turns into a classic for some reason. Fantasy movies are usually on top of that list. Think of Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal. Stardust will probably find itself along with those titles in the upcoming years for many reasons.
First of, the movie, overall, is not taken seriously in many different ways. The actors all seem to be having fun and an aura of global simplicity surrounds the movie from beginning to end. There's a lot of cheezy stuff in Stardust, but just enough so it can't be considered as a boring parody. It involves old fairy tales with contemporary humor, pretty much like Shrek did with brilliance. Although it is not funny as in laughable, the movie makes us smile not because of some joke or the facial expressions of some actor, but because we find each and every character charmingly naive and totally focused on one single idea. The fact that their personality is so simple makes them likable very soon after we encounter them for the first time.
The most intriguing part is, without a doubt, Robert De Niro's role as cross dressing pirate. His part is played with great acting and he is seen just enough so his character doesn't turn into a cliché. He is an enlightenment to the movie and almost makes us forget about some boring scenes. The brothers killing each other for the throne also fill up some good moments. The main actor ( Charlie Cox ) playing the hero is doing his best but the whole scenario was too much of a " loser turning into a winner ", he is still not experienced enough to play a leading role. He was mostly overshadowed by the other characters ( especially Lamia ( Pfeiffer ), Septimus ( Mark Strong ) and Captain Shakespeare ( De Niro )). Claire Danes was okay. I wished Jason Flemyng would've played a bigger part as Primus. I liked his over-the-top prince charming looks and personality compared to the Severus Snape/Aragorn look-a-like in Septimus who was not enough of a villain. Wearing black does not really make you evil. Michelle Pfeiffer was all right but I think her character also was built on "evil looks" and she is not that terrifying although the "inn scene" was great.
These kind of movies must not be expected to be as gigantic and dramatic as The Lord of The Rings which is the prime example. It is not a work of art, just an enjoyable family friendly film. It has to be taken lightly. There is nothing out of the ordinary in Stardust but, sometimes, if we focus on the ordinary things we usually ignore, we find beauty in them and that is what can be found in this very movie.