September Rewind: Stardust

Once a month I will be reviewing a film that I consider criminally overlooked by audiences. It's my hope that I will pique some interest in the film as well as share some great underground movies with friends who may not have been exposed to them.

There are lots of reasons why great films become overlooked films. Sometimes they are made to be Oscar contenders that don’t quite stack up against the other nominations for that year (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead). Sometimes they are great films that are buried by the production studios for petty and insulting reasons (Idiocracy). And sometimes, they are released on a limited budget at a limited number of theaters because a studio is contractually obligated to make the film as part of a higher cost-benefit analysis (Bubba-Ho Tep). Once in a while though, you get the very rare (and most tragic) case, a fantastic film sporting a great cast and given great exposure by the studio, but just slipped through the cracks of what the audience wanted to see, and that is the case for this month’s rewind spotlight.

Stardust was an action-fantasy film released in 2007. It was directed by Matthew Vaugn (X-men:First Class, Kick-Ass, Zombieland, Layer Cake), was narrated by the always amazing Ian McKellan, and starred Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Peter O’ Toole, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Jason Fleyming, an outstanding cameo by Ricky Gervais, and a still smoking hot at 50 Michelle Pfeiffer. To this day it is what I reference when I talk about how a standalone fantasy film can be an excellent film if handled properly, and it’s one of those rare films that I can pop in and watch anywhere, anytime, and it will keep me entertained for its’ entire running time.

Now you may be wondering, with talent like this behind it, how the heck have you never even heard of the film, let alone seen it? Well, you wouldn’t be alone. Everyone I know who I have tried to talk to about this film has given me a blank look when I mention the title, but should they take my advice and actually watch the film, we usually have great talks about how awesome the movie was. It seems to be one of those rare films that has something for everyone, excellent and exciting action scenes, outstanding effects, great acting, fantastic comic relief, an interesting and original story, and a romance between the two leads that is so well handled and real that even insecure men like myself can watch the film with wide doe-eyes and hope that things turn out well for our star-crossed lovers. Seriously, the chemistry between these two is so electric and real that I’m surprised fellow cast members weren’t crushed by the sexual tension between them.

The story takes place in the village of Wall, so called because it sits next to a strange stone wall that the villagers are forsaken from crossing. Never one to listen to rules, a young man by the name of Dunston jumps the wall to discover the hidden fantasy kingdom of Stormhold, and has a night of fun that he will remember forever… mostly because nine months later he discovers that he is the father of a child named Tristan who was born in Stormhold. When the son grows up, he embarks over the wall himself, questing to find out more about his history and to recover a fallen star for the aristocratic girl of his dreams. However, once on the other side of the wall, he discovers that he has unintentionally entered into a deeper power struggle between a dangerously powerful witch, and two princes, one good and one evil, vying for the throne of the kingdom.

The story sounds like a generic fantasy you would read in a dime store novel, but the film does a great job of tweaking and modernizing this classic tale of good vs. evil in order to create an original take that will keep you interested for every step of Tristan’s journey. Along the way Tristan meets a bevy of interesting and dynamic characters, including a band of pirates who travel by airship and are led by Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro). Lately Robert De Niro has seemed to become an actor who is only turning in performances based on the ticks and mannerisms that he himself created in his roles, but in this film we see De Niro create a new performance so genuine and out of character for him that I daresay it may be some of his finest acting since Heat. I guarantee when you see this film you will never look at De Niro the same way again.

In fact De Niro is just one part of a well oiled acting machine, as everyone in this film is in top form. Charlie Cox (an unknown actor by most accounts) plays his role as a clueless-doofus-turned-dashing-hero with a kind of hilarious bone-headedness that helps us relate to him. He doesn’t know much about this mystery world he’s stumbled onto, but he DOES know right from wrong, and that’s enough to make him into a likeable and relatable character to us the audience. Danes plays the fallen star Yvaine with beauty and grace, and she does so with such a quiet and effortless charm that it’s hard to find a single person who didn’t fall in love with her because of this film. The supporting cast is top-notch as well, Strong is predictably and fantastically sinister, Pfeiffer is resplendently evil, Fleyming is subtle and sincere in his pursuit of power for good, and Gervais and O’ Toole make the most of their brief but memorable roles.

This film excels both in action sequences and character development, a strength that Vaughn seems to have refined into his more recent and successful films. The action sequences are crisp and sharp, and always keep the audience enthralled thanks mostly to the emotional connection and relation that a well refined script has helped us create with the characters. Since we care about Tristan and Yvaine every single tense moment is heightened that much more, a point I made in my previous blog “My Thoughts on Action”. More importantly though, every single action scene has a purpose and reason behind it and helps advance the story, nowhere in the film do we have robots punching other robots just because, nor do we have fancy lightsaber fights that do nothing to advance the story.

The pacing of the film is outstanding as well, so outstanding in fact that it even draws in people who don't like fantasy films. As much as I loved the Lord of the Ring movies I can understand how the slow plot build up could turn off some people, especially in this age of "FASTER! LOUDER! EXPLOSIONIER!" action movies. Here however, the plot is constantly moving forward at a comfortable pace, never leaving you bored. Even people I know who hated Lord of the Rings couldn't stop gushing about this movie once they ended up seeing it. The pacing is further helped by the films' wicked sense of humor, and genuinely funny lines are delivered with flare and precision to keep this movie a lighthearted adventure.

Fantasy films seem to be forgotten about these days, and while there was a brief spike in their production following the Lord of the Rings and early Harry Potter films it appears that Hollywood has decided to move on because they are much harder to market, even if they know they have created gold. This seems to be the case with Stardust, a great film that just plain didn’t get the attention it needed to help jumpstart the genre, or even the franchise. It makes me sad to see great films like this fall by the wayside of Hollywood s**t-fests like the mindless crap that’s being forced down our throat, but it’s hard to compete when these mindless action films seem to get all the good trailers and press releases. Even more tragic is the fact that since these films didn’t make a trillion dollars in a weekend because of poor marketing the genre as a whole has to suffer, especially when a film like this is so good to begin with.

In fact there seems to be a new trend in filmgoers that is driving me crazy, and I don’t know if it’s because people genuinely feel this way or because this mindset seems to be doing everything it can to ruin my film going experience for no real reason. When movies like Transformers 2, or G.I. Joe come out people who know what a good film is will usually say “Well what do you expect man? I just want to see it for the action.” OK, that’s fine, whatever, but then when intelligent, well made action movies come out like Inception, The Dark Knight, Thor, or Children of Men these same people immediately turn around and say “That movie is sooooooo overrated” whenever I tell them that I like the film. Why? Why is it overrated? Because it didn’t have mindless action scenes that cost roughly three million dollars per minute to film? Because it had intricate plots that advanced the film and created genuine, realistic, likeable characters? Because it didn’t have two racist, stereotypical robots calling everyone in the film “bitches” and punching each outher in the nuts? Am I NOT allowed to simply enjoy this film now because it is a good movie? Is there no middle ground for you people? WHY CAN’T I ENJOY A GOOD GOD DAMN MOVIE?!?WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?

 WHYYYYYYYYYY?!?

Ahem…

The direction is well done in every aspect of the film, from the great performances by an ensemble cast, to the excellent creation of a fantasy world that stands out among all the other fantasy worlds on film that we have seen. Vaughn is gaining a lot of attention these days with his strong track record, and I’m hoping his newfound respect will help spread the word about this early, but earnest film attempt of his. He takes what could have been a generic, cookie-cutter idea for a fantasy movie and instills just enough original elements for it to be original and refreshing for the audience. You can easily make a genre film or show very original these days, all you have to do is add a little spice of imagination, and then you have something the audience probably hasn’t seen before.

What do I mean by this? Well, a good example comes from the critically acclaimed show Monk. For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of seeing the show it revolves around Adrian Monk, a brilliant detective suffering from OCD which stems from the death of his wife Trudy, the one crime he can’t solve. Monk blames himself for her death, and about three seasons into the show Trudy’s father comes to Monk seeking his help. Now if this was any other show or movie we all know this episode would play out.

Adrian: Mr. Trudy’s Dad… I never had a chance to speak to you after Trudy died…

Father in law: Don’t talk to me about her, she was my baby and you got her killed!

Adrian: I know, and I feel so bad…

Father-in-law: YOU’RE NO SON OF MINE! RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!

Then Monk would solve his crime, and the father in law would come around, and then they would hug and then roll credits.

That’s not the case in this episode though. As soon as the father walks in we see his face light up when he sees Adrian, and Adrian calls him “Dad” without even hesitating. The entire episode we see that the father and mother-in-law absolutely adore Adrian, and he introduces Adrian to all of his friends as “his son”. There’s no conflict between the characters, and this simple change in formula actually works to the benefit of the show because it’s more realistic and more refreshing. While good ideas in films are becoming more and more rare these days, good, original ideas for actual films are almost impossible to come by in this modern Hollywood. When films like Stardust succeed in Hollywood, even if they become cult icons, this is enough to instill in me the hope that someday Hollywood will cut the established franchise crap that it has fallen into and once again fund private, original ideas that helped create the industry to begin with.

Now yes, I have done my research and know that Stardust started out as a novel by Neil Gaimen, but the difference here is that most of us have never even heard of Stardust the movie, let alone Stardust the novel. With this movie Hollywood took a chance on an unknown property, and even though it may not have yielded the same return as the Transformers franchise it definitely made its’ money back almost threefold. The point is that Hollywood is getting more and more desperate to make movies based on classic pre-established properties that it has come to this…

Yep, that’s a poster for Battleship: The Movie, based on the Hasbro game. If you haven’t seen the trailer it’s about a battleship that fights space aliens. I am not s**tting you, that is the actual movie premise, feel free to look it up. And I mean, why wouldn’t it be, because what better way to speak to modern movie going audiences than to make a movie about a piece of military weaponry that has been retired for almost 20 years? Why don’t we just make a modern day movie about Zeppelins fighting giant cockroaches while we’re at it?  Do we really need countless movie adaptations of pre-existing franchises just because Hollywood has become so afraid of taking chances? How long is it before we get this?

Or this?

It’s coming…

The point is that in this modern day movie empire built out of ten trillion Twilight movies and nine million comic book movies (for better or worse) it’s just really good to see something original, especially when that original thing happens to be a well made and enticing movie.

9 out of 10