Stardust

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Screenwriter: Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais
Running time: 127 mins
Certificate: PG

A massive budget and an array of acting icons can't save fantasy flick Stardust from biting the dust. Based on Neil Gaiman's novella, Stardust makes the mistake of not focusing on the key plot strands and instead tries to cram too many characters and subplots into the movie.

Geeky Tristan (Charlie Cox) is infatuated with Victoria (Sienna Miller), a selfish, snotty lass, and promises to track down a falling star and bring it back to her. He ventures into a forbidden magical land, but finds that the star has taken human form after being summoned by a dying king (Pete O'Toole), who orders his competing sons to retrieve it. An aging witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) also witnesses the star and mercilessly pursues it in a bid to restore her beauty and power.

Within the fantasy genre, a simple narrative peppered with the occasional diverting tangents tends to be the structure that works well. The story's hero embarks on his quest and we root for him along the way. Or so the theory goes.

The lavish production values ensure that Stardust consistently provides some impressive eye candy to keep us from nodding off. The special effects are dazzling and the imaginative, vast landscape is skilfully realised by director Matthew Vaughn, along with the action sequences.

If only the same attention had been given to the acting aspect of the production then Stardust could have edged closer to the sublime rather than being trapped in the mire of the mundane. How much the audience engages and believes in the narrative hinges upon the chemistry between Tristan and Yvaine, but there simply is none. Claire Danes lacks any kind of appeal or allure as the fallen star Tristan falls for.

Charlie Cox is relatively likeable as Tristan, whose nerd-to-swashbuckler makeover basically entails him gaining a tan and some flowing locks. Yet it's hard to care whether he succeeds in finding his true love, and opting for Yvaine over his infatuation for the selfish Victoria. Of more interest is the fate of Tristan's enslaved mother Una (Kate Macgowan), but sadly she is barely a footnote as the film plods on. The film simply can't do justice to all the individual stories thrown into the mix, skimming many surfaces but never probing deep enough, and thus distancing the viewer from proceedings.

The most entertaining performance comes from Robert De Niro - but for the wrong reasons. 'Car crash' is perhaps the most apt description of his turn as Captain Shakespeare, a seemingly brutish character with a few hidden secrets - including a secret life as a transvestite. Watching the man who played Jake La Motta and Travis Bickle go into mugging overload whilst dressed in flamboyant female attire makes you wonder whether his paycheck was worth it. The same applies to Ricky Gervais, who plays the same sarcasm-filled persona we've seen numerous times - but this time devoid of any hilarity.

At best a mildly diverting couple of hours, Stardust sprinkles away its opportunity to become an engaging fable by not giving the same attention to the script and performances as to its elaborate CGI.