Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Seems like a bit of a split decision based on these reactions.

First up, someone who had a heck of a good time with it:

Hey Harry,

I've been readin AICN for over a decade now (holy crap!) and i've never had the pleasure of scooping a movie for ya, but tonight that changed. Due to the nature of my new job, i recieved advanced passes to see Stardust tonight. I'm not really a critic, or a reviewer in terms of my abilities, but i'm fairly discerning as to what movies I enjoy.

So first let me say that i've been watching AICN with great interest over the progress of Stardust being made. The moment that Vaughn walked away from the X franchise to work on a film written by Neil Gaimen, i was intrigued. So to put it flatly, this movie kicked total ass and back again. I went in hoping for something good, but never expecting it to amaze me. The entire audience was captivated, from the engaging performaces from Claire Danes, Michelled Pfieffer, Tristan (didnt know the guys name) and especially DeNiro. His Captain Shakespeare truly steals the show and made one of the most hilarious and unexpected performances of not only the movie, but of DeNiro's career. The score was engaging and powerful, the plot actually made sense (the hell i say!) and if I have any complaints at all, it's simply that a few of the special effects seemed slightly weak. Don't get me wrong, most of them were convincing and well done, but there was once or twice that a I saw something that didn't pull me in. This could be the fact that I'm Very harsh about special effects, that I want them to keep me in the movie, not pull me out. This was a minor complaint though. The fact is, this is the most original, creative, hilarious and touching movie i've seen in Years. I had thought that it may be compared to Princess Bride and would fall short. But i honestly believe that it stands shoulder to shoulder with that classic and deserves to be held as a Classic in it's own right. I purposely left my review free of spoilers, I was more interested in conveying the experience i had moreso than the plot. This movie comes highly recommended. If you use this call me Archmagnus.

And now, someone who... well... didn’t.

Hey Harry, Mori, et al,

So... Stardust.

I walked out at the end of “Stardust” really not liking it. Despite AICN’s banners and such, I imagine it’s not really the type of picture that many TB’ers are into. It’s light fantasy, involving an English lad who learns to grow up and be a man when he embarks on a wild journey to win the heart of a lovely lass (Sienna Miller). There’s sky pirates, evil witches, prophecies, etc. There’s also the constant fantasy film trappings- the needless monarchy, the very British performances, blab la bla. My eyes glassed over a few times, really.

But then I thought about it. Perhaps I was just being a cold-hearted bastard, and maybe I was affected by the worst fucking preview screening audience in history (NYC, why do you do these things to me?). Looking back a day later, I realized, hey, that was kinda cute.

It’s based on a novel/novella/graphic novel/comic or something from Neil Gaiman, and sadly, it does have the mark of a work being truncated for the screen. It’s awfully busy and the film’s in a rush to get to story details, even if it feels like a pretty long time in the theater. It’s essentially a chase picture, though I wish the pace picked up to realize this- sure it’s fantasy hooey, but this is primarily a race for the gold- the MacGuffin being Clare Danes (playing Gwenyth Paltrow, circa ’97) as a fallen star with a magical necklace that everyone’s after.

The lead is a fellow named Charlie Cox. He completes a journey throughout the film from boy to man and, damned it be so, I really noticed a change in him. Maybe it’s a body language issue, but initially he’s namby-pamby, even Guttenberg-ish, but by the end, he’s a dashing hero type, and I totally bought the transformation- these types of films NEVER get that right, so kudos. The girls will especially like how he soon loses interest in the far-hotter Miller for the over-the-hill Danes- hey, it’s fantasy. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an evil witch, not very interesting, while Robert De Niro traipses around as a secretly gay sky pirate. I thought that was cute- there are rarely alternative lifestyles in these fantasy films (nevermind minorities), so to see the film appreciative and also a bit smirky at his crossdressing was a nice change of pace. Some princes show up to grab the diamond and usurp the kingdom from their father (Peter O’Toole, literally wheeled in for his one scene), and as they die, they watch on and comment on the action as ghosts. It’s a goofy idea, but seeing Rupert Everett’s head flattened in for ninety minutes after falling to his death is amusing. Ricky Gervais also quips for a few minutes in a bit part, and you’ll also see cameos from the “Lock, Stock” gang doing a favor for Matthew Vaughn.

I’m not sold on this Vaughn guy. He keeps the action PG-13 and a bit on the nasty side- I would say it’s not at all inappropriate for younger kids, but it’s a film not afraid to spill a little blood or cut off some heads. Still, it’s overlong and really not paced all too well. it has a subversive element, but at the same time it gives in to the fantasy clichés with about a half hour left. And the special effects didn’t really impress either- still, not a bad second effort, particularly considering the tone of this film seems hardest to nail, and he gets it.

Fabfunk says Adios.