Stardust

Stardust is a new movie based on the Neil Gaiman story of the same name. The plot is a typical fantasy/adventure romp and the movie successfully pulls off an enjoyable story that should be suitable for the whole family.

The setting for Stardust is mostly set in the magical kingdom of Stormhold, which happens to border a tiny English village, aptly named Wall. The plot of the movie follows the main character, Tristan Thorne, as he journey's through Stormhold on a quest to bring a piece of a fallen star back to the object of his affections, Victoria, who appears to be the town's most eligible bachelorette. Along the way he finds and subsequently falls in love with the star, who turns out to be in the form of a human woman, named Yvaine (played by Claire Danes).

I won't go too much into the plot as you can read a detailed breakdown on the Wikipedia. Suffice it to say there's not really a lot that should come as a surprise to anyone. Plot, after all, is not the reason anyone goes to see an adventure film.

The cast for the movie is very well assembled. There are plenty of big name actors along with "that guy who is in" types. The male lead Charlie Cox does an excellent job of playing the naive Tristan and the rest of the cast all give solid performances, although the inclusion of Ricky Gervais just didn't sit right with me since the character served no actual purpose in the movie and Gervais is completely unable to play any character besides David Brent. Ian McKellen serves as an outstanding narrator and is a nice capstone to the cast.

The visuals of the film are of course fantastic, with plenty of beautiful countryside, giant castles, flying ships, magic and all the other things you'd expect from a fantasy setting. I can't fault any of the special effects and there's enough swashbuckling action to go along with the romantic and comedy scenes that most people should find something to enjoy.

The running time of the film is quite short for films these days at a little over two hours. It definitely doesn't feel that long since most of the film is just so much fun to sit through. Stardust has a rating of PG and that's due only to some mild fight scenes (there's no blood or gore that I can remember) and some sexual references such as Tristan and Yvaine waking up in bed together ("oh my God – they're not married!").

Overall, a great film for everyone with action, adventure, romance and comedy in the vein of classic films such The Princess Bride. I thought it was great and highly recommend it.