Netflix Pick – Stardust
A much lighter, happier, and more whimsical film than most of the Netflix Picks have been. Stardust got a theatrical release in the US but didn’t do much to light the world on fire. Every year this movie seems to get better as the talented cast grows in fame and writer Neil Gaiman somehow comes out with better and better work. Along with it being a fun fairy tale story it’s more relevant this week than ever because it stars the incredible Charlie Cox and Henry Cavill! Daredevil himself delves into a fantasy world to hang out with Superman, who is kind of a jerk in this. Claire Danes and Robert De Niro as a gay pirate show up as well. What’s not to like?
Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) is a shop boy in a small town known as Wall. He never knew his mother since his father, Dunstan (Ben Barnes and Nathaniel Parker), snuck into the fantasy world of Stormhold and had a fling with a slave girl named Una (Kate Magowan). In order to win the love of a local girl named Victoria (Sienna Miller) Tristan vows to capture a fallen star and return before her other suitor, Humphrey (Henry Cavill) can beat him to it. The star turns out to be a beautiful woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes). Tristan isn’t the only one who is after Yvaine. Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), the aging witch, wants to cut out Yvaine’s heart and eat it along with her sisters to restore their youth. The King of Stormhold is on his deathbed. He tasks his murderous sons to retrieve the star, the one who does becomes kind of the land.
The complex plot and crazy long cast list never gets muddled or tiresome. The pace is quick, the tone light, and the movie delivers a complete and overall sense of fun and adventure. Stardust does the rare movie magic trick of making the audience feel the joy of being a kid again. This feat is usually reserved for classic franchises getting new life like Star Wars Episode 7. Cox’s Tristan is as much a fish out of water as the audience since his fictional town of Wall has nothing remarkable about it. Wall looks like any small storybook town that could exist in our world. The adventure really begins when Tristan makes his way to Stormhold and the magic and fantasy aspects really ramp up.
In 2007 when Stardust had its small theatrical run the movie was a fun fantasy tale with a complete world. The cast was good but nothing exceptional, at least that was the initial impression. Upon subsequent rewatches it’s clear the cast, not as name stacked as it is now, is exceptional. The story in Stardust is well written but with so many moving parts and no foot in reality it could easily have been a John Carter or something equally as disappointing.
The cast dove head first into the magic, the fantasy, the world, the silly, the action, and the fun. It’s tough not to finish this off by just listing every member of the astounding cast but it should at least be noted that in 2007 Charlie Cox wasn’t Matt Murdock, Owen Slater, or in an Academy renowned film. Henry Cavill wasn’t a household name as one of the most iconic Superheroes of all time, Claire Danes hadn’t delivered the performance of her career as Carrie Mathison, and Mark Strong wasn’t one of the coolest guys gracing the silver screen.
Robert De Niro has a great turn as the supporting character Captain Shakespeare. Unlike the rest of the cast listed, De Niro had already made a considerable mark on Hollywood when he took on the role of Shakespeare. What was so great about De Niro in this role was the absolute originality of the character and De Niro’s performance in it. It goes without say that De Niro is a master of his craft, but for the most part his later career was De Niro appearing in movies as what the public expects of his personality. In short De Niro had been in movies but not acting for quite some time. The tough front and soft interior of Captain Shakespeare was not only great for comedy but reminds audiences that this man can take on any character in any capacity.
The dialogue is snappy. The characters, even the side ones, have unique personalities and no one feels like they exist solely to carry the story forward. Not so surprising when you consider who Neil Gaiman is and the astonishing ability this man has to tell a story. No matter what the subject matter is Gaiman believes in it, he goes for the fences. His words are moving in every form whether he’s inventing a kingdom like Stormhold or delivering new depths to the Caped Crusader. When he teamed up with Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman, Kick-Ass, Layer Cake, Snatch, X-Men First Class) there should have been no doubt that Stardust would be something special. This special aspect is why this under appreciated movie is the Netflix Pick of the week.
The expert narration by Ian McKellen helps catch the audience up to the fantasy world created solely for Neil Gaiman’s fantasy story. Narration often times comes across as a storytelling crutch. Can’t convey information in the film? Just tell people. Think your world is too unique or plot too thick? Exposition through voice over! McKellen’s narration was bookended to the film that truly makes the modern wrote story feel like a classic fairytale.
Because Stardust takes place in a fictional fantasy world the movie relies heavily on special effects. Witches, transformations, ghosts, and lightning capturing pirates are just some of the story elements that required computer imagery to bring the world to life. The effects in Stardust hold up much better than a lot of the other CG contenders around the same time. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Superman Returns, 300, and The Golden Compass all came out within a year of Stardust yet many of the effects in those films are not exactly seamless. It was a small thing at the time of the release but the quality is blatant nine years on.
It should be clear by now why Stardust is this week’s Netflix pick. The project is absolutely brimming with talent. The script is strong and the story moves fast. It may be bending the rules of what the So Wizard Netflix Pick is all about since it made 38 million at the Box Office and was nominated for a handful of awards. Still, check this movie out. If you’ve seen it, give it another watch and you’ll appreciate it even more, if for no other reason that how far the cast has come.
Stardust: 5/5
Want to own it instead of streaming it? I don’t blame you.
