FLOATING in on an airy breeze of dreams and true love, the lively adventure-romance "Stardust" offers that elusive quality summer movies are supposed to possess but rarely do -- total escape.
The fantastical story of an ordinary shop boy's quest to prove his love takes us on a journey into a magical kingdom of conspiring witches, murderous princes, flying pirates and a fallen star. Sophisticated in its execution, it is a movie that possesses a child's whimsical sense of wonder that propels the action, coupled with an adult sensibility that gives it emotional heft.
In craftily melding these disparate elements, director Matthew Vaughn delivers a worthy follow-up to his stylish feature debut, "Layer Cake," ably moving from that film's neo-gangster environs to the bigger-budgeted fairy tale world of "Stardust." The screenplay by Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman is an adaptation of the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and follows in the spirit of "The Princess Bride," gently spoofing the rules of enchantment while simultaneously embracing them.
While it lacks the earlier film's flashy comedy and quotable dialogue, "Stardust" possesses enough wit and bravado to make it perfectly charming. Its protagonist, Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox), lives with his father in the small English village of Wall, named for the cobblestone barrier that skirts it. Beyond the wall lies both Tristan's origins and destiny, and a falling star offers him a chance to win the heart of the haughty Victoria (Sienna Miller), the prettiest girl in the village.
Upon learning of his unusual provenance, Tristan soon finds himself transported to the supernatural world of Stormhold, the enchanted land on the other side of the wall. In the crater where the star landed, he discovers a beautiful young woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes), who, in fact, is the human incarnation of the star. Tristan intends to take Yvaine back to Victoria to prove the depth of his love but must first navigate the treacherous byways of the fantasy kingdom.
That doesn't prove easy, as certain members of Stormhold's citizenry are also interested in Yvaine. Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her witch sisters want the star for her eternal life-giving properties -- which can only be purloined by possessing her still-beating heart. The surviving sons of the dying king (Peter O'Toole) want to regain the gem their father launched into the stratosphere sending Yvaine plummeting to Earth, a gem still in her possession. It is the final piece of a rather bloodthirsty succession ritual that leads Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) and his brothers to kill one another off until the last survivor ascends the throne. As they are dispatched, the slaughtered princes provide a Greek chorus to the story, stuck in limbo until a new king is crowned.
