Stardust

Stardust (2007)

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Written by: Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman
Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mark Strong, Robert De Niro, Melanie Hill, Kate Magowan, Ricky Gervais, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Sienna Miller, Nathanial Parker, Peter O'Toole. Narrated by Ian McKellen

I was kind of disappointed to miss this one in the theatre. I wasn't really paying attention, and I sort of forgot to go see it. It was playing for, like, a month.

About a young man who crosses the border between our world and the magical world in order to get a fallen star for his sweetheart. Three evil witches also want the star (which looks like Claire Danes. Sweet!) so they can steal her youth and beauty. As does the son of the dead king who needs this necklace which knocked the star out of the sky in order to claim the thrown.

Also, ghosts, goat people and cross dressing sky pirates. Cool.

At first I was a little distracted by the similarities between Lord of the Rings and other fantasy movies, as there are bound to be some, but the movie is actually one of the weirder, more original fantasy movies I've seen recently. I guess it's been compared to Princess Bride which is fair. They're both kind of funny and romantic.

The characters are well written, the cast is good, the FX aren't too intrusive, and it's a very sweet love story. It warmed my heart without being Hallmarky (Hallmarky doesn't actually warm my heart, it makes me want to puke).

It was funky. It was like Narnia but with a sense of humour.

So not a lot of complaints about this one (damn. Okay, I'm going to trash some stuff in a minute). I did very much enjoy it. It didn't take itself too seriously at all, and it made me happy.

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