Stardust 2007

     This film is based on a novel written by Neil Gaiman.  The passage from this world to the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold is through a breach in a wall beside an English village.  In the 1800s, a boy becomes a man when he ventures through the beach in pursuit of a fallen star.  He is trying to prove his love for the village beauty.  The star is no lump of rock!!  It’s actually a maiden, Yvonne.  Tristan is the boy and he is not just looking for Yvonne.  He is also looking for three witches led by Lamia.  They want her heart to make them young.  The sons of the dead king of Stormhold want her because she holds a ruby that will give one of them title to the throne.  Also with Tristan, are his mother and she is the victim of a spell.  There is a cross-dressing pirate of the skies.  Will Tristan win his true love?

     The plot line is a unique story.  It isn’t corny, tacky or ridiculous and it is actually entertaining and funny?  The soundtrack has a magical feeling and it adds to the film.  There are sword fights, unlikely friends, transformations, personal discovery and above all LOVE.  There is a dark side to this film and it is surprisingly violent.  There are several deaths and lots of fights with knives and swords.  An evil witch unleashes her fury and this can be frightening.  One witch has a voodoo doll that she transforms into an old hag.  Brothers are vying for their father’s crown and trying to kill each other.  5* (I really liked this movie)

127 min, Adventure directed and written by Matthew Vaughn and also written by Jane Goldman, Neil Gaiman with Ian McKellen, Bimbo Hart, Alastair MacIntosh, David Kelly, Ben Barnes, Kate Magowan, Melanie Hill, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Henry Cavill, Nathaniel Parker.

Note:  Imdb 7.6* out of 10* with 251,361 reviews, 76% with 193 critics 86% with 468,451 audience scores, Roger Ebert 2 1/2*, Common Sense Media, S. Jhoanna Robledo, age 12+,4* out of 5*, 5* violence 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, Letterboxd 3.5* out of 5*, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 33 critics (25 positive 7 mixed 1 negative) 8.6 out of 10 with 365 ratings (327 positive 26 mixed 12 negative), Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 5516 reviews.

Special Note:  All the Princes wear clothing with a pattern spelling out their number in Roman numerals.  Septimus wears a vest with the numeral seven on each button.  Much of Ferdy’s dialogue was ad-libbed by Ricky Gervais.  Matthew Vaughn had great difficulty shooting the scenes at the inn where Lamia entices Yvonne, Tristan and Primus.  There were very few days when more than one cast member was available for filming.  He used a lot of stand-ins in the closer shots to give the impression that all of the cast members were present.