[meteorite-list] Movie Reviews: Stardust

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2007 11:38:21 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200708081838.LAA06189_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3006&Itemid=99

Movie Review: Stardust
Written by Scott Birmingham
07 August 2007

"Stardust" overall is a very good film. This is the second film by
director Matthew Vaughn whose only earlier credit is a film called
"Layer Cake" (2004) with Daniel Craig.

"Stardust" is based on a novel graphic by Neil Gaiman who also penned
"Beowulf" (coming soon to a theater near you).

There is a good strong cast including some cameos. The story is both
interesting and entertaining. It unfolds very much in the same way that
"Ella Enchanted" (2004) did. The camera takes the audience across
beautiful landscape vistas and from room windows to the interiors of
castles, very much in a bird's eye point of view. It is visually
striking and you can't help but be a little mesmerized by the travel,
the only thing missing is for the air conditioners in the theater to be
timed just right to kick on while you're in-flight.

However, after we're done with the cool special effects once or twice
you're kind of looking for the story to move forward a little faster. It
felt as if we went from fourth gear to third and were trying to figure
out where the pace lies. As director Robert Wise once said, pacing
isn't all about the rhythm and editing of the story, it more importantly
involves "is it keeping my interest?"

"Stardust" almost starts losing some of that very interest it started
off so well with in the beginning until Robert De Niro's Captain
Shakespeare comes onto the screen. It is fun in part because as you're
watching him you're trying to really figure his character out and he
obviously has fun with that. I watched this in a theater with three
other critics and as soon as De Niro's character came on the laughs
started. De Niro comes on and just switches things around - it was a
welcomed break and put the story back on a little faster track.

ImageI think I would have been far more caught up into the romance
element of it if they had cast someone just a bit more attractive. I'm
not saying cast a knockout, but someone you can see this guy falling
for. Claire Danes is a very good actress, I just don't feel the way her
face was captured was the needed look. Her face is a bit washed out in
a few scenes, which was needed for the character and situations, but it
probably would've served the film better to have someone whose face
doesn't so "appear" washed out.
 
Some of the themes of "Stardust" are a little darker especially towards
the end, and Capt. Shakespeare's 'feminine' side which is both subtle
and not so subtle are two reasons why the film ranks a PG-13 rating.

I give it an 8! Should you miss it on the big screen you might just get
more out of the DVD when it's released.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/08/07/movie_review_pfeiffer_shines_as_a_wicked
Movie Review: Pfeiffer Shines As A Wicked Witch In The Amusing
'Stardust'

''Stardust ,'' a fairy tale for
grown-ups, follows the adventures of a star that falls from the sky in
the form of an ethereal blond named Yvaine, whose magical abilities make
her the target of various people with nefarious plans.

But it's the return of a star you already know and haven't seen much of
in recent years that will leave you feeling dazzled.

Michelle Pfeiffer is deliciously
evil as a witch who wants to cut out Yvaine's heart and eat it to gain
eternal youth and beauty for herself and her sisters. (Well, mainly for
herself.) She shows great comic timing and isn't afraid to play with her
glamorous image, or look grotesque when her character, Lamia, is at her
most decayed and desperate.

Rather, she seems to be reveling in such an unexpected turn, and the
film's wildly vivid makeup and special effects bring her even more to
life as Lamia morphs from wretched to ravishing and back again.

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, ''Stardust'' definitely has more than
enough imagination and whimsy to keep you engaged. There's a long, stone
wall that separates the English village of - well, it's called Wall -
from the fantastic alternate universe of Stormhold. Goats get turned
into people and people get turned into goats with the whip of a
fingertip. Ghosts of murdered princes hang around and comment drolly on
the action. And high up in the sky, a flying pirate ship collects
lightning for sale on the black market.

This isn't self-serious, sword-and-sorcery stuff, though. While the tone
in director Matthew Vaughn's film is firmly tongue
in cheek in a way that's reminiscent of the classic ''The Princess
Bride'' - and a vast departure from his debut, the slick neo-noir
''Layer Cake'' - the many overlapping
plots and gags can get a little silly. Maybe that's the point, the
increasingly madcap nature as a multitude of story lines ultimately
collide, but the result feels a bit gratuitous. (Vaughn co-wrote the
script with Jane Goldman.)

''Stardust'' also calls to mind last year's ''Pan's Labyrinth'' - not
that it's even close to the masterpiece Guillermo del Toro created - but
merely in that it superficially appears to be suitable for the whole
family, and it's really not. It's never as terrifying as ''Pan's
Labyrinth'' but it does get dark; in a broader sense, though, kids just
might not get a lot of the nuance. Their parents are truly the target
audience here.

Also chasing Yvaine (a radiant Claire Danes are several princes
who seek her powers to ascend to the throne as king of Stormhold, as
well as the lovestruck shop boy Tristan (Charlie Cox), who finds her first
and wants to bring her home to tiny Wall in the countryside to impress a
snooty girl (Sienna Miller) he thinks is out of his league.

Danes, with long, straight platinum hair that accentuates her wide eyes
and chiseled cheekbones, eerily resembles Gwyneth Paltrow. She and Cox have
decent chemistry - they enjoy your typical romantic banter, in which
they initially bicker and get on each others' nerves, but it's only a
matter of time before they fall madly in love and look forward to their
happily ever after. As Tristan, the boyishly handsome Cox makes a smooth
transition from insecure kid to swashbuckling hero.

The stellar cast, if you'll pardon the pun, also includes Peter O'Toole
giving a rich performance in a brief deathbed appearance as the king of
Stormhold, whose many sons (including Rupert Everett and Mark Strong)
can't wait for him to die so they can bump each other off and take his
place. Fellow veteran actor Ian McKellen serves as the film's
narrator. And Ricky Gervais goes woefully underused in just a couple of
scenes as an underground trader.

Then, as Captain Shakespeare, there's Robert De Niro, continuing his
streak of comic roles that upend his tough-guy persona. In public,
Shakespeare rules the skies in his pirate ship with his gruff, demanding
voice and his cutthroat attitude. But privately, in his quarters ...
well, he's a different guy. We won't divulge the twist - we'll just say
it's an amusing idea that almost literally goes overboard.

''Stardust,'' a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 for fantasy
violence and some risque humor. Running time: 125 minutes. Three stars
out of four.
Received on Wed 08 Aug 2007 02:38:21 PM PDT