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Fallen Stars, Witches, Treacherous Princes (watch for Rupert Everett), Gay Pirates, a swashbuckling hero (with a British accent)… and seeing Sienna Miller get her comeuppance (I’m not a fan). Now THIS is my kind of movie. You know the ones made with a pinch of whimsy, a dash of pixie dust and healthy dose of romance. Stardust feels like today’s Princess Bride. (Please tell me you’re old enough to remember that movie.)

I think Stardust is an example of a novel that has successfully been translated to a movie. The heart and soul of the book is still there, but certain things were added and taken out for the story to work in film format. Apparently not an easy thing to do; it’s been a while since I’ve seen a novel-to-movie translation that really worked.

Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name, Stardust tells the magical journey one boy takes into manhood by crossing the wall between his nothing-special town and the wondrous land of witches and princes in order to retrieve a fallen star. There he finds more than just a hunk of celestial rock. He finds courage, friendship, his destiny, and most important of all, his one true love.

I love that the movie feels like a twisted, dark and edgy fairy tale (it’s a fairy tale with an attitude, yo!) and yet it manages to remain magical. I love that the story and the characters feel familiar (borrowing Pirate Shakespeare’s favorite word, it’s tres Grimm fairy tale of your youth) but are still completely unique (you wouldn’t expect less of Neil Gaiman, would you?).

Michelle Pfeifer is luminous (except when she’s in hag form, natch!) and terrifying. Robert De Niro is endearing if a bit miscast as Shakespeare (no, not the bard). Each and every character feels real (need I remind you that they play witches and fallen stars here—which are as far from real as you can get). They aren’t actors playing parts. They are their characters. Claire Danes and Charlie Cox played well against each other as Yvaine and Tristan and had genuine chemistry. You’ll fall in love with the idea of these two together.

That being said, the movie does have its flaws—Claire Danes’ accent early in the movie is a bit annoying. I don’t know if it gets better as the movie progresses or you just get used to it. And…hmmm. That’s it really. Or it could just be me. I’m not big on Claire Danes. I would’ve cast a different star (pun intended). But, to her credit, once I got over her overly-British British accent, I felt involved with her character and she made me relate to her Yvaine.

Ooooh. And I love the speech Yvaine gives about “love” to a certain mouse (it will all make sense when you watch the movie) while they were in the caravan. I almost cried…I would’ve too if I wasn’t with a friend who would’ve teased me about it for all eternity.

Given the material—fantasy and fairy tale, it could’ve gone so wrong (Remember The Brothers Grimm? No? Exactly.). Thankfully, they got it right. So if you’re looking to escape your dreary cubicle at the office for two magical hours, then head on out to see Stardust now.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 10:04 am and is filed under Media (Books, CDs, DVDs, Movies). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.