Stardust

Stardust

Here's a movie that knows exactly what it is. It's cheesy and silly, but it's also full-on fantasy, with plenty of adventure and romance to go around. There's nothing particularly mind-blowing happening here, but it plays the fantasy tropes to their full tropiness.

For whatever reason I thought this was my first Neil Gaiman movie, but it turns out that Coraline is his book, he wrote the screenplay for Beowulf, and he adapted the English dialogue for Princess Mononoke. Gaiman is a bit of a nerd god, and while he does a wide variety of different genres and mediums, there seems to be a shared dose of whimsy between all of them, even when they're particularly dark. Stardust is definitely a light entry in Gaiman's canon, all fun and no sad. The dialogue is forgettable, since it's mainly expository and none of the characters have a very unique voice, but the different plots are fun to follow and watching the stories all meet and dovetail at the end like a Seinfeld episode is pretty satisfying. It's not brilliant, but it's thoroughly entertaining.

The cast is a wonderful mix of great old and new British actors and comedians. Charlie Cox, Ian McKellen, Peter O'Toole, Mark Strong, Mark Heap, David Walliams, Adam Buxton, Ricky Gervais, Sienna Miller, and Henry Cavill all show up at one point or another, and Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, and Michelle Pfeiffer are the token American stars. No one really does any big stretches in terms of acting, they all just seem to be having a good time, and that's perfectly acceptable in a movie like this.

The sets and the costumes are all lavish, creative, and fun. The cinematography itself is fairly standard, but the production design clearly had a lot of effort put into it. From richly detailed palaces to a simple hedge, every location is at least somewhat memorable and pleasing to the eye.

Overall this is a fun, breezy movie that's great for a date night or just a fun evening with a group of fantasy fans. Think of it like a modern Princess Bride. Maybe not as memorable or funny, but just as entertaining and genuine.