Stardust
(crossposted on LJ, GJ, and IJ)

Ever emerge from a movie theater, unable to keep a smile from your face, feeling yourself just glowing with happiness as you returned home? I've only had it happen a handful of times, at most. Stardust did that last night.

I've seen the film compared to The Princess Bride, and the comparison's certainly apt, though the plots are quite different. Both are fairy tales, fantasy before Tolkien made dwarves and elves de rigueur; if anything, they're reminiscent of George MacDonald, the Scottish clergyman whose fairy tales were inspiration for CS Lewis and Tolkien. It's set in a vaguely anachronistic world; the human world is in the mid to late nineteenth century, and the fairy world is in some sort of limbo where princes and princesses and steampunk airships can all coexist, without the frightening reality of guns or trains. In this world, the magic alone is quite terrifying enough.

All of the parts were perfectly cast and performed. There are a lot of big-name actors, and each does a superb job of taking themselves perfectly seriously in parts that are often entirely absurd. Ian McKellen provides a rich-voiced, solemn narrator; Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliantly evil as a casually ruthless witch. A Snape-looking Mark Strong is the cunning Prince Septimus, and Robert DeNiro provides one of the most delightfully hilarious roles, as a pirate with a hidden softer side. The main two characters are, if anything, outshone by the colorful people they encounter, but they still become a very solid and believable hero and heroine; in these days, simply portraying the Hero's Journey without making it a horrible cliche is impressive!

The second movie that this reminded me of was the original Pirates of the Caribbean. They're bizarre juxtapositions of swashbuckling adventure and comedy that actually work; the comedy makes the adventure sparkle without losing its meaning, and the adventure gives the comedy weight and staying power. There are so many perfect little moments that wink at the audience (or, memorably, between two characters on the screen!) to let us know that yes, they realize all the humor inherent in what they're showing.

In short: watch this movie. Really. I can't wait until the DVD comes out, so I can add it to my collection of shows that, like PotC and Princess Bride and Firefly, are so much fun that I could watch them over and over with friends, and so full of wisdom and truth that they repeatedly recapture my heart.

P.S. Unimpressed with the trailers you've seen? I was, too. The movie's better.