- Starring
- Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro
- Director
- Matthew Vaughn
- Rating
- PG-13
- Genre
- Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
- Release date
- July 29, 2007
- Where to watch
- Hulu, HBO Max
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
Stardust is a visually stunning and magical film that takes viewers on an unforgettable journey to a fantastical world full of danger and adventure. The all-star cast, including Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, and Michelle Pfeiffer, delivers strong performances that bring the characters to life and add depth and emotion to the story.
Stardust
The film follows the journey of Tristain Thorn, played by Charlie Cox, who must brave a series of challenges and dangers in order to win the heart of his true love, played by Danes. Along the way, he encounters a host of colorful and memorable characters, including a scheming sorceress, a fierce warrior, and a mysterious and powerful star.
One of the standout elements of Stardust is its production design and costumes, which are lavish and breathtaking. The film’s art direction and costume design truly bring the fantastical world of Stardust to life, immersing viewers in a fully realized and magical environment. The special effects are also top-notch, further enhancing the film’s immersive quality and adding to the overall sense of wonder and wonderment.
In addition to its action and adventure, Stardust also explores themes of love, loyalty, and self-discovery with depth and nuance. These themes are woven throughout the story, adding depth and emotional resonance to the film. The characters are well-developed and their relationships are depicted with care and authenticity, making it easy for viewers to become invested in their journey and root for them to succeed.
Overall, Stardust is a delightful and enchanting film that is sure to delight audiences of all ages. Whether you’re a fan of adventure or heartfelt romance, this film has something for men and women alike. The film’s stunning visuals and magical atmosphere make it a truly immersive and enjoyable cinematic experience, and its themes of love and self-discovery give it added depth and meaning. If you’re looking for a film that will transport you to another world and leave you feeling enchanted and uplifted, Stardust is definitely worth checking out.
WOKE ELEMENTS
There is a homosexual character shoehorned into the film. However, since it seems to be done out of a sense of comic relief, rather than, a Disney-like “not so secret” gay agenda, I only dinged the score a tiny bit. It’s also very brief…and very funny.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
2 comments
Ruse
July 2, 2023 at 5:48 am
The movie definitely has “Woke” elements in it. As noted, Robert DeNiro’s character, for example, is presented as a cross-dressing gay man. In the book, this character is neither.
Overall the main male character is a bit of a pushover and mostly bumbles into women who solve his problems. The movie is explicitly a commentary on masculinity (it even says so in the opening narration) and presents all of the male characters aside from the MC and the gay man as pretty much evil murderers. The messaging is pretty clear in that it wants to present traditional powerful & assertive male figures (Stormhold’s male lineage) as negative.
There’s a degree of cartoonishness to the depictions in the film as it’s intended to evoke fairy tales, but I would consider this at minimum a Woke-ish movie. More realistically, this is a fully Woke movie. It happens that I still enjoyed it, but I’m not afraid to acknowledge its clear political motives.
Phillip
October 17, 2023 at 3:00 pm
There is historical precedent for cross-dressing pirates. It’s also true that not all cross-dressers are gay, and that what constitutes male and female garb is somewhat arbitrary. (The only difference between a skirt and a kilt is societal norms). Mainly though, that scene was hilarious. If you’re worried about the normalization of the behavior, well, the movie seems to indicate clearly that it is abnormal.
I’m not sure where you are getting an indication that the movie is about masculinity. Do you mean the part where the narration says that Tristan progresses from boy to man in the story? What actually happens is that he gets over his crush on a carelessly cruel and vain girl, gains self-confidence, gets laid, gets married, and becomes king.
Tristan seems a little weak in the beginning because he has extremely good manners and lacks self confidence. The manners thing is a trope in fairy tales–the humble and polite people in these stories always come out on top. The lack of self confidence is just setup for his character arc. Tristan gains in confidence and assertiveness by the end of the film. He stands up to Victoria, Humphrey, and Steptimus. If Tristan didn’t improve during the course of the film and remained the same as he was at the beginning I would agree with you.
When is he running into all these women who solve his problems? He meets Yvaine who is a larger obstacle than a mere rock would have been. He gets a free ride from Primus, then meets Lamia who sees him as a pest to exterminate before she seizes a Star’s heart. Then he gets a ton of help from Shakespeare and his crew, followed by a run-in with another Ditchwater Sal who to turns him into a mouse. Near the end, he fights a bunch of witches and survives till the final one despite having no magical skills. Finally, Yvaine helps with the final witch. Now I’ll admit it would have been satisfying to see him simply stab Lamia, but on the other hand what happens makes sense. It should logically be nigh on impossible to kill the most powerful witch without magic of your own.
I’m also going to challenge the notion that all of the male characters (besides Shakespeare and Tristan) are evil murderers. Primus seems to be a pretty decent guy, just jaded from his upbringing. The soothsayer risks his life for the sake of the kingdom by intentionally feeding Septimus the wrong information. The goatherd is probably neutral at least. Shakespeare’s men are fine too. The wall guard seems to be a principled and dedicated guy! And Tristan’s own father is also a good man for keeping Tristan as a single father and apparently waiting for Una.
All-in-all, I think a rating of “Wokeish” for the unnecessary inclusion of a cross-dresser *might* be justified, but I don’t think that’s an open-and-shut case either. If that scene is trying to do anything besides be funny, it’s probably just demonstrating what tolerance should look like. Shakespeare is still captain because his “hobbies” don’t negate his skills, his charisma, or his experience and his crew recognizes this. I can imagine that he is good friends with some and that others owe him their lives–clearly their job is dangerous.