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I'm a huge fairy tale nut, and Stardust is the sort of story that manages to catch every bit of that love and throw it back to me. Gaiman is a genius. The plot is light and silly, but at the same time, manages to catch every bit of the wonder that makes the Grimm tales so enticing. In a way that movies like Ladyhawke and The Brothers Grimm do not.
I highly recommend it.
Now, for the detail.
Overall, I loved this film. It's sweet, and uplifting, and the few flaws are mild enough not to annoy me, and I'm the sort who can easily find that some flaws keep me from enjoying movies, so that says a lot, I think. The story is simple enough. Tristran is sweet and rather innocuous. The girl-next-door that he wants at the beginning of the film is vain and spoiled enough that you know she isn't the one for him. The set up about the royal family of Stronghold, and their succession is humorous, if a bit obvious. The star in the form of Claire Danes is lovely. She occasionally overreacts, but as a non-earthly creature, it works quite well, really. And Michelle is incredibly perfect as the evil witch. All in all, excellent casting.
Two things I'm incredibly pleased by in this story: the magic and fact that those little threads that most writers would let dangle were actually pulled back into the main thread of the story. The magic feels real, like it actually has rules behind it. Like someone's given it thought. Hubby tells me this is just Gaiman's usual magic, but I'm still pleased to see it. He did a lovely job of it.
As for the storyline threads, there were so many that I wouldn't have been surprised to see dropped, but most of them were still wound back into the story. The story about Tristran's parents: not only her "story" that she tells to his father about being a princess, or the chain he cuts to try to free her then gives their son later, but also the name she gives her son: Tristran is a version of a name that means "sad." What better name for a girl to give her son when she's been held captive who knew how long, and she was going to have to give him up, and possibly never see him again? And as for the chain that his father chops off, it is not only used by Tristran on Yvaine, but later another version is used to bind her and Una together. And the idea that only powerful magic -- including a unicorn horn (a nice touch) -- can remove the chain is very nice. There's more, of course. These are just the ones that immediately come to mind.
Actors: Peter O'Toole's cameo was fun. As was Rupert Everett's. Michelle was utterly lovely. At the moment she started sobbing about loosing her sisters, I was utterly disappointed, so when we found out it was entirely put on...I couldn't help but grin. And she did not only a lovely acting job, but she did it through a ton of makeup. Claire did an okay job. I've seen her do better, but she held up well. As for Deniro? He was a slasher's dream. I think he may well have stolen the movie. I just loved him.
In fact, I will say that the point the movie and the two heroes' come into their own is the entire sequence on the air boat. The movie is especially fun during that whole part of the film. Captain Shakespeare's reasoning for his name, his closet, "cutting" Tristran's hair longer, the fighting and dancing lessons... I loved it all. Particularly Septimus's attack once they've left the ship. Absolutely priceless.
I do have to say that the story surrounding Tristran's parentage and the "secret" about his mother was a bit anticlimactic. Meaning that the moment the King asked where "Una" was, I knew that Tristran would end up the king, with Yvaine as his queen. I would have liked something more subtle, at least. But I am glad it wasn't the only storyline. Some of the acting was a bit stiff, and a few accents were dropped. But overall, I thought it wasn't enough to really upset the balance of the film.
My overall impression? Excellent movie. I highly recommend it.
8/10
