Taking a cue
from the classical whimsy of The Princess Bride, Matthew
Vaughn’s Stardust is a rollicking adventure of a good
time. This is a post-modern rendition of old-fashioned fantasy
of the purest caliber, equally entrancing in terms of its
mythical tone and its creative imagery. By all means, the
picture represents a welcome return for Hollywood to a more
illusive form of storytelling: its wondrous computer-generated
visuals are treated as figments of an imagined body of work
rather than show-stopping cinematic tricks. For this reason more
than any other, Stardust succeeds as a motion picture. It
immerses its audience into an entirely believable, mystical
world.
The detailed
story on display here is difficult to explain in a few
paragraphs, but I’ll try my best to do so. In Stardust,
Tristan (Charlie Cox), a young man who lives in an English town
that borders a magical other-world, is dying to express his
hopeless love for the pompous and superficial Victoria (Sienna
Miller). Unfortunately, Victoria is about to marry Humphrey
(Henry Cavil), a rich and charming aristocrat whom with she is
more socially compatible. One night, Tristan and Victoria see a
star falling in the sky, a sight which she deeply admires and
hence provokes a deal: if Tristan can retrieve this star for
Victoria in one week, she will marry him instead of Humphrey.
This all sounds
good and jolly, but the tricky part of the matter is that the
star fell in the world next to Wall, the border-town in which
the two reside. It is not easy for one to enter the foreign
land, but Tristan soon learns that his father is one of the few
who have done so, and that his long-lost mother is actually
being held slave to a witch there. Using a sort-of mystical
teleportation candle his mother sent him after he was born—his
father had been hiding this for years—Tristan is able to enter
the kingdom of Stormhold, as it is called. He finds himself
right in front of the fallen star, which takes the form of a
woman in the mythical land; her name is Yvaine (Claire Daines).
And as if that wasn’t easy enough: Tristan isn’t the only one
seeking Yvaine for his own personal reasons. In order to become
the King of Stronghold, the Princes in-waiting of the Kingdom
must claim her for themselves. Also in competition: wicked witch
Lamia (Michelle Pfieffer), who wants Yvaine’s heart, which will
provide she and her sisters with eternal youth.
Of course, in
the nature of all great fantasy, a love story brews at the heart
of Stardust. As Tristan bends over backwards to hold onto
Yvaine, he realizes what a wonderful woman she is, especially
compared to his previous perception of the ideal female (and
reason for finding Yvaine), Victoria. As Yvaine, Claire Daines
is stunning and surprisingly sexy. Her chemistry with fellow
lead Charlie Cox is abundant in every frame the two performers
share together, and this complements the far-out action to form
a cohesive whole picture.
As I conclude
this review, I realize that most of what I have just said is
just mindless plot-description. The truth of the matter is that
it would be hard to write about Stardust in any other
way. Like all good fantasies, the film’s detailed wildness is
what makes it the rewarding motion picture that it is. It’s hard
to really criticize this type of movie because it is so unique
unto itself. On the surface, my sole complaint with this one is
that, at two hours and eight minutes, it runs about a half an
hour too long. Otherwise, I really cannot say much about my
opinion of Stardust other than that the film worked for
me. It proves itself to be well worth the price of admission.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 8.12.2007
Stardust is rated PG-13 and runs 128
minutes.
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