Stardust is a fairy tale for adults — based on Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’s illustrated novel — and it is one of the more delightful films to come out of the fantasy genre in years. It does not take itself too seriously, and that lightness is precisely what makes it work.
The Story
A young man from a small English village crosses a magical wall into a kingdom called Stormhold to retrieve a fallen star for the girl he loves. The star turns out to be a person — a luminous, irritable young woman named Yvaine — and they are pursued by witches who want her heart and princes who need her for dynastic reasons.
Charlie Cox and Claire Danes lead with genuine chemistry. The supporting cast is exceptional: Michelle Pfeiffer as a vain and terrifying witch, Robert De Niro as a sky pirate with a surprising secret, and Peter O’Toole in a brief but perfectly calibrated royal cameo.
Why It Works
Matthew Vaughn directed with a tone that honours the source material’s knowing wit. The film is aware of fantasy tropes and plays with them rather than simply deploying them. The humour is dry and earns its moments without undermining the genuine tenderness of the central romance.
It did not perform as well at the box office as it deserved. That is a familiar story for mid-budget original films. But it found its audience on home video, and it holds up. Recommended enthusiastically, particularly if you have given up on fantasy films being both smart and fun.