By The Double Feature: Versus crew takes a look at “STARDUST”
Synopsis
To win the heart of his beloved (Sienna Miller), a young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) ventures into the realm of fairies to retrieve a fallen star. What Tristan finds, however, is not a chunk of space rock, but a woman (Claire Danes) named Yvaine. Yvaine is in great danger, for the king’s sons need her powers to secure the throne, and an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) wants to use her to achieve eternal youth and beauty.
Blak’s commentary
Talk about hooking someone from the first scene. “Stardust”, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, is a magical tale whose charm hooks you in way before its literal magic does. Charlie Cox and Claire Danes are terrific as Tristan and Yvaine, an unlucky young man and a human fallen star, bound together by fate and circumstance. “Stardust” is a unique film in which the villains are just as compelling and entertaining as the heroes. Michelle Pfeiffer is terrific as evil witch Lamia and Mark Strong is equally great as would-be heir Prince Septimus. Another great standout is Robert De Niro as the hilarious, sexually conflicted Captain Shakespeare. For a 128-minute film, Stardust’s pacing is surprisingly fast – not much of the plot is wasted on any filler or any detail that’s not important to the story or theme. Besides a little hiccup in the final battle between Lamia and Tristan/Yvaine, “Stardust” is a near-perfect, fun fairy tale ride.
4.5 / 5
Brad’s commentary
Stardust starts off strong by building an interesting world of magic and mystery, introducing us to the character of Dustan Thorne who jumps the wall separating his world from one filled with magic. While there he meets a princess, and upon returning home nine months later a baby is left at the wall for him to take care of. The young boy Tristian grows up feeling like his life is missing something, until he meets Victoria and vows to win her love by bringing her a fallen star. A fallen star that is also being hunted by the the sons of the King of Stormhold in order to become the new king, and a group of witches who want the star to use its powers for their magic power. The film takes great advantage of this aspect by showing the different people looking for the star and their interactions with each other throughout the film in trying to reach their goals. As Tristian and the star who is discovered to be a girl named Yvaine travel with each other they grow together in a way that has you rooting for their full love to show. While it has its cliche’s it can be easily forgiven by the great cast, the amazing environments, and the fun adventure this film brings us on.
4.5 / 5
Double Feature: Versus Podcast
Check out Blak and Brad’s full thoughts on STARDUST as well as THE PRINCESS BRIDE on the latest episode, available to listen to now!
Double Feature VS is a podcast series in which two friends Anthony and Brad step in front of the mic and clash heads, come together, break up, and come together again on the subject of two competing films on each episode. Directorial debut vs Sophomore slump (or success), critically acclaimed vs fan-favorite, original vs sequel, blond vs ginger, ebony vs melanin, etc. The possibilities? Endless. The arguments? Futile. The debates? Epic (also humorous). The combination of audio material, written film reviews and video commentaries (all found on doublefeaturevs.com) are all part of what makes this a great new series for cinephiles, moviegoers, movie lovers and everybody in-between.
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