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Swordfights! Sky pirates! Magic! Witches! Ghosts! De Niro! Yes, Stardust has plenty of ingredients that could make The Best Film Ever or a complete mess. Thankfully, it falls more towards the former side of that equation, although it is certainly not without its problems. Indeed, the main source of its flaws is the fact that it tries to fit too much in, meaning that a lot of time and energy has to be devoted to establishing everything, at the expense of flow and momentum. A similar criticism could also be levelled at director Matthew Vaughn's only previous film, Layer Cake, which suffered from a degree of over-convolution and stodginess. Fortunately, though, Stardust does manage to find its groove - perhaps not coincidentally, it's right about the time De Niro's Captain Shakespeare turns up - and once it does it achieves exactly what it aims for: to be a fun fantasy adventure.
The magnificent mostly-British landscapes give anything "fantasy location of choice" New Zealand has to offer a run for its money. It's quite clear from the outset that Matthew Vaughn has been studying The Lord of the Rings, as his film opens with a narration by Gandalf himself, Ian McKellen. Additionally, Stardust is filled with the sort of swooping helicopter shots that Peter Jackson loves so much as well as sharing that trilogy's visually realistic approach to fantasy. The fact that Stardust fails to equal Jackson's magnum opus is hardly a revelation, but it doesn't really try to; the sort of fantasy that this story deals with is of a far more whimsical and fairytale-like nature. It doesn't take nine hours to tell either - Stardust departs from the conventions of so many other franchise wannabes as it is a fully self-contained story. In that sense and also due to the light-hearted comedic tone, it most resembles the The Brothers Grimm among recent films (Vaughn has named The Princess Bride and Midnight Run as his biggest influences, the latter of which seems a bit tenuous), although it is a superior film to Terry Gilliam's effort.
Vaughn has assembled an impressive cast, principally of character actors, to populate his fantasy world. De Niro's contribution goes without saying, although the role does present a surprising, and amusing, departure from the sort of character the method man is used to. Michelle Pfeiffer gets to have a lot of fun in a bitchy villainous role for the second time this year (after Hairspray). A plethora of recognisable British faces fill the supporting roles, many with little more than cameos, including Ricky Gervais (playing himself again, but it works within the film's environment), Peter O'Toole, Dexter Fletcher, Sienna Miller (whose role has funny parallels with her current public image) and even Little Britain's David Walliams. The part of the protagonist is taken by unknown Charlie Cox, who at first is rather blandly heroic, if charmingly clumsy, but he seems to grow in stature and confidence just as his character does during the film. The most pleasant surprise is Claire Danes, who despite featuring in many acclaimed high-profile films rarely seems to leave much of an impression, but here is very likeable and shares appealing chemistry with the leading man.
The film's ambition is in part its downfall at some points. A $70 million budget isn't much by modern standards for a film of this scope and corners have clearly been cut in the visual effects department. While never terrible, the CGI fails to truly convince, a problem exacerbated by the director's penchant for frequent computer-assisted gliding camera shots. The aforementioned muddled first half is also a hurdle that it has trouble overcoming. However, it's difficult to criticise a film that instils so much goodwill as Stardust. It's one of those films that, should you manage to submit to its charms, warms the heart and sends you out of the cinema with a smile on your face. An entertaining family-friendly adventure that actually succeeds at being uplifting is very welcome.
The summary
Sure, Stardust is silly, preposterous, and at times cumbersome. It's also, however, an extremely enjoyable ride filled with endearing humour and exciting action. Just the ticket.
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