Stardust

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Release Date: 20 September, 2007

Lead Actor: Charlie Cox

Running Time: 127 mins

Genre: Fantasy

Review by Fraser Green

Stardust is a significant change for the director that brought us the thriller Layer Cake taking a very different approach. Starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath, Hairspray), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, Meet the Parents) and Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) all these actors put on brilliant performances.

A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria, the beautiful woman of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his adventure, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes). However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. A king’s (Peter O’Toole) four living sons all need the star as they compete for the throne. Tristan must also overcome the evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who needs the star to make her young and very powerful again. As Tristan battles to survive these threats, encountering a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) and a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence along the way, his quest changes. He must now win the heart of the star for himself as he discovers the meaning of true love and something else waiting for him at the end.

This is a very good looking film meaning that it has fantastic visual effects and brings a lot of colour to the screen. All the characters are very well developed and acted out with Robert De Niro probably impressing me the most. Stardust is Charlie Cox’s debut film which he has nailed really well. De Niro’s cross-dressing scene may have been a little over the top but it still brought about some laughs. I did find that this film felt a bit empty at times and wasn’t as adventurous as I hoped it to be. Also, I was surprised that this film was given a ‘PG’ rating, I personally thought that it should be an ‘M’ rating. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable film and good success for director Matthew Vaughn.

My Rating: 3 and ½ stars

Check out this funny clip from Stardust:

~ by cade14 on September 20, 2007.