Stardust: The stars shine down
When a trend has begun, there is no stopping the followers. Fads, though short lived, almost possess people into doing what is “in”. Right now, I suppose the trend points towards a magical bend of the directors and script writer’s wrist. You see, the public is bored of our own mundane, bad world and want to enter another realm which takes them deep into the world of fantasies and enthralls them, if only for an hour or two. Take the Harry Potter series, or Lord of the Rings for example sake. And now, we have another one jump onto the band wagon. This is Stardust.
Rating: 1.5/5
For the uninitiated, there is a wonderful writer who goes by the name of Neil Gaiman. Though not in J.K. Rowling’s league, he created a colorful miniseries about a similar world of witches and magical beasts. From this, we have Stardust in the theatres today.
Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust
The story is about a star that falls to the earth. Only, earth is not the place we live in. According to the movie, the star falls somewhere between the real world and the kingdom of Stormhold- a place humans are forbidden to enter. The quaint little town of Wall (named after the wall that separates the mortal world from Stormhold) is where Tristan lives. Coming back to the star, well, it assumes human form once on earth and all the star wants now is to live a normal life as a normal girl, Yvaine (Claire Danes). But sadly, there are a lot of people after this star. Firstly, there is Tristan, who pledges to bring the shooting star as a gift for his beloved Victoria (Sienna Miller). Then, there is an evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) who must eat the heart of the star to attain eternal beauty. As if this is not enough, the heirs to the throne of Stormhold are fighting against each other to get a ruby that can make them the next king. This ruby is with the star. Oh dear, this sounds like so much, but there is more. We see Robert De Niro in a rather comic role of a cross dressing captain of a ship that sails in space. Too bizarre? Um, may be just a tad.
Charlie Cox and Claire Danes in Stardust
Though the idea behind the film is not bad, there are many errors which make it not too pleasant to watch. Firstly, the casting was not done properly. Matthew Vaughn ought to know that just by casting big names, you won’t necessarily make a big film. Plus, there are references from a lot of other places. For instance, Captain Shakespeare bares more than a passing resemblance to a certain Jack Sparrow. Though the effort is made, it is a rather bad resemblance. The three witches seem right of Shakespeare’s (the original) cauldron.
Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro and Claire Danes in Stardust
With too much stuffed in, it still might have worked, but something that irks me is that the star, Claire Danes, was such a bad choice! She does not look divine from an angle and is a very grouchy star. Can’t help but feel someone else would have done a better job. Except for Michelle Pfeiffer’s Lamia, none of the other characters are quite as convincing or fleshed out.
So I suggest that if you are still overawed by fairytale land, this is something you can lap up. Otherwise, you’d better think about it because you won’t find Potter in the midst of this crowd.
Rating: 1.5/5
© hamaraphotos.com
March 28th, 2008 at 1:08 am
For a movie buff, a children’s fairy tale may not what the doctor ordered to spend his/her hard-earned weekend on. I had watched this movie with my wife and 4 year old son, and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Its got enough spark to make you reminisce on those fairy tales you read as a child, and your child finds fresh fodder for his fertile imagination!
Don’t watch this movie for the actors or the special effects(which aren’t too bad anyway). Watch it for the story. Watch it to cheer the battle of good against evil, to enjoy the fact that love triumphs all and, to rest assured that at the end of the movie, your son will want that elephant which fits in a bird cage……
Rating: 3.4/5