Stardust Review

I'll save you all a bit of suspense and just get this out of the way: I really liked the movie. That done, let's get on with the review.The direction is nice. It's not jaw dropping or astounding but it is very good. There's a real feel for small town in those scenes but it's not pervasive. The sky pirates feel like storms, the markets feel like crowded commercial centers. The scenes all feel like they should. This may seem like an odd thing to state but it's a subtle point that should be made. It takes a careful hand to make each scene grow into itself without overpowering it with one overarching visual style. In fact, perhaps the above comment doesn't convey as much respect as I intended.The real strong shine (no pun intended) is the standout design. There are amazing little details tucked into this film that even I didn't pick up until the second time I saw it. The rigging and balloon supports on the air ship, for instance, are meant to resemble power lines and even have capacitor devices incorporated into them. And of course if a Gaiman script is to be great the visuals are going to play a huge part. Hell, this was written as an illustrated novel and then worked into a graphic novel. Even his straight prose gets visual treatment. He writes with images incorporated. Everyone who worked on the design, effects and, to be frank, illustrating of this movie deserves recognition on this project.The acting had some highs and lows. I liked Claire Danes, despite Allison's allegations that she belongs to the Head Bobbing School of Acting. It's a bit true but it's not 'bad'. She's gorgeous in this movie. She's damn near too pretty, but of course she's a fallen star so that works here. I think that Yvaine (Stardust) and Galadriel (Lord of the Rings) should get together and play out the following scene:

Yvaine: I am far to pretty for the real world.Galadriel: As am I. Let us inhabit the fantasy realm and rule it with beauty.Yvaine: Let's. Also, isn't it time for a magical pillow-fight in our jammies?Galadriel: Is it that time already?

Tristan (Charlie Cox) is bumbling and charming. He has a tendency to pull verbal double-takes but it's forgivable for the character. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the character Lamia well enough but needs a little work on her accent. It's fine when she uses one but whenever the witch gets too emotional (especially at the end) she turns American. And then there's DeNiro. Dear lord, why was he cast? I know that it seems funny to cast DeNiro as a gay pirate but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. As rude as this may seem, I felt that the name Shakespeare was more than applicable. When he was delivering lines, especially when he let out the gay, he sounded like a high school student doing a Shakespeare play. I did not believe for a moment that he completely understood the words he was saying, but rather had memorized them as a speech. He even mispronounced a few words and he wasn't even trying for an accent. He came off as awkward and gimmicky. The movie is worth putting up with his performance, and there's even a nice touch with him at the end, but he is by no means good. Not this time around. I think he suffers from Walken Syndrome, where an actor is hired but refuses to act. Instead they simply read the lines as themselves.I've heard people say that the tone of this movie is similar to The Princess Bride. While I can understand why, I don't think that's quite right. The Princess Bride has a near post-modern awareness. The narrator knows it's a book and the characters nearly seem to as well. While this has a similar vein of dark humor it's not that self aware. Instead, this is more of a classical darkness. People are eaten by animals, witches are killed and turned upon by their prisoners. People lose body parts. It's a funny look at the traditional fairy tale, like Grimm's. The humor is more earnest and slightly less tongue in cheek. It's funny, am will say. But it's not set up and knock down jokes. They jokes are rooted in the absurdity of the characters themselves. Though not slapstick, it's more physical and less wordplay.Rating: +4.5