|
Director -
Matthew Vaughn
Writers -
Jane Goldman and Mr. Vaughn, based on the
novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess
Director
of photography - Ben Davis
Editor -
Jon Harris
Music -
Ilan Eshkeri
Production
designer, Gavin Bocquet
Producer -
Matthew
Vaughn, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Michael Dreyer and
Neil Gaiman
Paramount Pictures. 130 minutes.
STARRING:
Claire Danes (Yvaine), Charlie Cox (Tristan), Sienna Miller (Victoria),
Ricky Gervais (Ferdy the Fence), Jason Flemyng (Primus), Rupert Everett
(Secundus), Peter O’Toole (the King), Michelle Pfeiffer (Lamia) and
Robert De Niro (Captain Shakespeare).
What would we do without “Once upon a time…”?
For most of us, that famous opening line conjures vivid memories of
children’s stories about knights, magic spells, wicked witches, dragons,
epic battles, and curses broken by the power of a kiss. But many
grownups have folded up their imaginations and stuffed them in a closet,
pooh-poohing stories about princesses and goblins.* It’s tough to
maintain an appreciation for childlike whimsy and make-believe.
Lately, thanks to the success of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the
Rings films and the publishing phenomenon of J.K. Rowling’s Harry
Potter, many adults have “come out of the closet” as fantasy
enthusiasts. And as a result, more and more authors and artists are
creating fantasies specifically crafted for adult imaginations.
When it comes to “adult fairy tales,” author Neil Gaiman is one our
most popular tale-spinners. The man who imagined Sandman,
Neverwhere, American Gods, Coraline, and the
movie Mirrormask has roots deeply planted in traditional fairy
tales from Andersen to Grimm. In novels, graphic novels, and comic
books, he fuses differing cultural mythologies into striking new visions
that convey spiritual ideas.
Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake)
is the latest Gaiman yarn to be tailored for the big screen. Its
big-name cast will surely draw a crowd of adults to the theater, but its
PG-13 rating and fairy-tale style will attract a younger crowd as well.
And that’s a big problem. Parents should be warned that if young
viewers run from the movie to the novel, they’ll be exposed to scenes of
gratuitous sex and material inappropriate for younger readers. So be
warned: If your kids like this PG-13-rated movie, it may lead them to an
R-rated book.
As this is a review of the movie, not the book, let’s focus on what
moviegoers will encounter:
The title — Stardust — refers to the magical aura of the
story’s celestial damsel in distress. Yvaine (Claire Danes) is a
star. Seriously. She's lived in a heavenly realm for many years. When the king of Stormhold (Peter O’Toole) brings her crashing down
to earth, she finds herself and her magical ruby hunted by dangerous
agents. Evil princes want to claim the ruby and thus the kingship. A
particularly wicked old witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) wants to cut out Yvaine’s heart to steal its power, regaining physical beauty and youth.
A garrulous trader (Ricky Gervais) wants, well, money. And a gallery of
ghosts straight out of Beetlejuice play a not-so-Greek chorus
to the developing chaos.
But thanks to the power of a transportation device called a “Babylon
candle,” someone else finds Yvaine first. Young Tristan Thorne (Charlie
Cox) is trying to prove his love to Victoria (Sienna Miller), the
self-absorbed beauty who has claimed his heart. He promises Victoria
that he’ll fetch her that fallen star, and he crosses over a magical
boundary from the quaint village of Wall into the realm of Stormhold.
When Tristan discovers Yvaine, he puts her on a leash and drags her
along in what becomes the most elaborate cross-country chase since
Midnight Run.
Tristan thinks his discovery will win Victoria’s heart. But every
moment with the fallen star takes him into a deeper understanding of
love, and before it’s over, he’ll solve some of the mysteries of his
parentage. Meanwhile, Yvaine will find the missing piece of the heart
she seeks to protect.
(Review continued below...)
(Review continued...)
Narrated by Gandalf himself (Ian McKellan), Gaiman’s fantasy is wild,
fast-paced, unpredictable, and packed with references to other tales.
Like many contemporary fantasies, the story’s themes could be easily
reduced to bland slogans that appeal to our self-interest: “Be what you
were born to be.” “Don’t conform to your society or live within its
boundaries.” The sexually ambiguous airship-pirate Captain Shakespeare
(Robert De Niro) serves to deliver an obvious, unfortunate message: That
you should do whatever you want no matter what other people think.
But Stardust also inclines us toward more honorable
insights:
- True love is based on honesty and trust rather than skin-deep
lust.
- Those who cling to youth and vanity through cruel and unusual
practices will end up empty and corrupt.
- The pursuit of power leads to heartlessness and destruction.
- We’re all longing to return to a higher existence, where we truly
belong.
- Love opens us to a power greater than any witches’ spell.
These themes are awkwardly juxtaposed in a film that cannot decide
whether it wants to be a quirky, comical tale a la The Princess
Bride; an action-adventure along the lines of Willow; a dark,
mystical fantasy like Ridley Scott’s Legend; or clash of
CGI-powered wizards straight out of Harry Potter; or a costume party for
legendary actors.
Stardust’s extravagant design is its greatest strength.
Loosely based on Charles Vess’s illustrations for Gaiman’s original
graphic novel, the movie is full of castles, inns, mansions, and
enchanting fantasy landscapes provided by Iceland and Scotland. These
are cleverly sewn together with digitally animated environments in ways
that reflect the influence of Jackson’s Middle Earth and Andrew
Adamson’s Narnia.
Lucinda Syson has assembled a remarkable cast who keep us engaged
with enthusiastic performances. The radiant Claire Danes gives it her
all, as usual, conjuring a convincing British accent. Charlie Cox is
charming, growing Tristan up into a winsome swashbuckler. And Peter
O’Toole, in his brief appearance, conveys more intelligence and power
than any of the other big names.
But the movie belongs to Michelle Pfeiffer. In a welcome return to
fairyland, Pfeiffer reminds us that she is still one of the big screen’s
most enchanting beauties. She hasn’t lost the spark that made her such a
luminous presence in Ladyhawke twenty-two years ago. It’s too
bad that her best moments are quickly shoved aside so she can become a
canvas for makeup artists. (When one spell begins to lose its, um,
“holding power,” her breasts suddenly sag.) Pfeiffer’s bold,
self-effacing performance makes us wish for a role that takes full
advantage of her talents, and her beauty, soon.
Robert De Niro turns in one of his wackiest performances as the gruff
Captain Shakespeare, a zeppelin-piloting pirate who keeps a particularly
un-pirate-like secret in his closet. But while he wins a lot of laughs,
his performance breaks the movie’s spell. We’re laughing because, well,
it’s Robert De Niro dancing around in a petticoat. A lesser-known actor
could have made the flamboyant captain a stronger character, and avoided
the distraction of “stunt casting.”
While he’s clearly working with combustible talents, Vaughn seems
incapable of mustering any sense of mystery, magic, suspense, or grace
here. His experience working with director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock
and Two Smoking Barrels) shows — the film’s far too heavy-handed
and action-oriented to cast any kind of lasting spell.
Fantasy is a tricky thing. A little bit of magic goes a long way, and
too much of it can spoil any sense of suspense. In Richard Donner’s Ladyhawke, a
powerful love story grew around one simple curse, and we were led
through the story by an unforgettably quirky and endearing narrator. In
Stardust, there are so many powers, talismans, spells, and
transformations that it becomes distracting and confusing. The movie is
so busy explaining its hodge-podge hocus-pocus that it fails to develop
strong characters. (And why do these powerful witches, capable of
unleashing spectacular magical assaults against their enemies, have so
much trouble performing a simple age-reversal ritual once the tools are
within their grasp?)
All of this goes to remind us that The Princess Bride really
is a treasure. Balancing wit and wisdom with a self-effacing wink, Rob
Reiner’s timeless fantasy classic is an acrobatic masterpiece. It played
to the strengths of its actors, while Stardust wants us to
laugh at how De Niro and Pfeiffer play against type. The Princess
Bride had a feeling of spontaneity; the comedy in Stardust
feels forced. The Princess Bride never needed to jolt us or jar
us to hold our attention; but the closer we get to the end of
Stardust, the more it devolves into a marathon of furious special
flourishes.
Still, the power of fairy tales to illuminate transcendent mysteries
does glimmer along the feeble threads of this story. It’s enough to whet
our appetites for bigger (and hopefully better) fairy tales scheduled
for release in the next few months. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
is based on strong source material, but the preview is packed with
clichés. The Golden Compass looks like a million bucks, but its
author has spoken forcefully about how the story was written to lure
young readers away from the Christian ideas manifested in The
Chronicles of Narnia.
“Once upon a time,” George Macdonald, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and
Madeleine L’Engle crafted fantasy adventures that resonated with
redemptive power. Will any of these upcoming features surprise us with
meaningful storytelling? Who will be the storytellers capable or
rekindling such cosmic imagination?
*You
may have seen that Focus on the Family recently declared Dr. James
Dobson’s
opinion of the Harry Potter stories, saying that their focus on
witches and spell-casting will lure children into dangerous territory.
But as in J.K. Rowling’s stories, the magic in Stardust is distinctly
the stuff of make believe. Here, spells and charms and curses give us
a way of thinking about the many differing gifts and powers we
possess. They vividly illustrate the conflict of good and evil, the
consequences of sinful choices, and the difference between love and
lust. If parents bring their children up to appreciate the value of
imagination, and to discourage any curiosity about real-world sorcery,
then fairy tales from Narnia to Hogwarts, from Pinocchio to Peter Pan,
from King Arthur to King Aragorn, from Star Wars to Stardust, can
become a rich treasure trove of meaningful stories.
|
