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| Roger Ebert |
A fantasy, even a comic fantasy, needs above all to be lean and uncluttered. Only reality is untidy. The classic fantasy structure involves the hero, the quest, the prize and what stands in the way. It is not a good sign that almost the most entertaining element of ìStardustî is Capt. Shakespeare, appearing from the skies in his dirigible pirate ship. Shakespeare, played by Robert De Niro as a transvestite swashbuckler (swishbuckler?), is wonderful, but he should be forced to wear a badge saying, ìHi! Iím the deus ex machina!î
There are lots of other good things in the movie, but they play more
like vaudeville acts than part of a coherent plot. Itís a film you
enjoy in pieces, but the jigsaw never gets solved. I liked it, but ìThe
Princess Brideî itís not.
The plot, by Neil Gaiman, based on his novel: England is separated from
the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold by a wall. Outside the wall, in an
English village conveniently named Wall, lives a plucky lad named
Tristan (Charlie Cox), who is in love with a lass named Victoria
(Sienna Miller). He fears to lose her to a rival, but one night they
see a shooting star fall beyond the wall, and he vows to retrieve it
for her.
It is not very hard to get through the wall, which is an example of
Stormholdís crumbling infrastructure. Tristanís father was once able to
bound through a gap in the wall, but Tristan has more trouble with an
ancient guard and employs a magic candle which, by definition, works
its magic. Inside Stormhold, he discovers that the star is, in fact, a
beautiful girl with long blond tresses named Yvaine (Claire Danes). I
think her name makes her a sort of vain Yvonne. She possesses such
secrets as eternal life, which are worth having, and so thereís a
rivalry for her powers.
In this corner: Three Macbethesque witches (Gaiman is a fan of
Shakespeare), led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who believe Yvaine can
restore their beauty. In the other corner: The Learesque king of
Stormhold (Peter OíToole), who has three living sons and four dead
ones, who appear in black and white as Hamletís fatheresque ghosts.
(Note to editors: Why canít that be a word?) The dying king believes
Yvaine can restore his throne to his living sons, although letís hope
he doesnít try dividing the kingdom among them.
Tristan is on his own among these scoundrels. At least he has Yvaineís
sympathy. As the only one who doesnít want to rip out her heart and eat
it, he has much to recommend him. Lamia, meanwhile, begins by looking
like Michelle Pfeiffer, but the more she employs her black magic, the
more she looks like Peter OíToole, who has already gone about as far as
he can go.
Meanwhile, Capt. Shakespeare sails in like an outtake from ìThe
Adventures of Baron Munchausenî and hopes to pillage, plunder and
provide comic relief. The movie becomes very busy at this point, and
Tristanís quest to win Victoriaís heart is upstaged by everybody elseís
quest to eat Yvaineís.
Still, Gaiman has many admirers ó they will be familiar with the
material and find their way around ó and director Matthew Vaughn lays
on the special effects; the movie is not boring, just cluttered and not
focused enough. There is a kind of narrative flow that makes you want
to be swept along and another thatís just one thing after another.
ìStardustî is fun enough the first time through, but it doesnít pass
the Derek Malcolm Test: ìA great movie is a movie I cannot bear the
thought of never seeing again.î
ï
Roger Ebert, a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, is a syndicated columnist based at the Chicago Sun-Times.
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