Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Charlie Cox, Ian McKellan, Sienna Miller, Mark Strong, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Daines, Robert DeNiro
Rated: PG-13 for some fantasy violence and risque humor.
Parental Notes: This is not a graphic film at all, though some of the fantasy violence might scare younger children.
Back in 1999, Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess gave us a lavishly illustrated fantasy tale about a young man who sets out in search of a fallen star and finds far, far more than he bargained for. Now, Matthew Vaughn, who has given us "Layer Cake" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," has brought that tale to life.
It is the eighteenth century. Young Tristan Thorn lives in Wall, a beautiful village in the English countryside. He is in love with the town beauty, Victoria (Sienna Miller), and in a moment of desperation, he offers to retrieve a fallen star they watch streaking across the sky. She, in the way of beautiful and unattainable women in fairy tales, tells him that if he can bring her the star before her birthday, she will marry him. The star, however, has landed in the realm on the other side of the wall that gives the village its name, and that realm is very different from ours.
For one thing, the star turns out to be a young woman named Yvaine (Claire Daines), who is not particularly interested in being a birthday present. However, Tristan has a plan to return her to the sky, so she goes with him. This turns out to be a wise move on her part, as there are a number of other people interested in acquiring her, and none of them seem quite as nice as Tristan. One is a witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who plans to cut out her heart and share it with her sisters to maintain their eternal life. Another is the youngest prince of Stormhold, Septimus (Mark Strong), who (along with three of his brothers) is after the gemstone that knocked Yvaine from the sky. Whichever prince retrieves the stone will be the new king, and Septimus is a very determined man. He's already murdered three of his brothers when the film begins, and they follow him about like a ghostly peanut gallery.
Tristan and Yvaine must elude the witch and the princes, survive an encounter with the fearsome air pirate Captain Shakespeare (Robert DeNiro), who has a terrifying reputation, and make it back to Wall in one piece. It's an classic quest story, with chase scenes, fights, our hero learning a little too quickly to be good with a sword (anything is possible with a training montage, I suppose), and some sweet romance to boot.
There's also a great deal of hilarity. Septimus' late brothers are a delight and while I won't spoil the surprise, Robert DeNiro's character made me laugh so hard I nearly wept. But it's not just a comedy -- in very British fashion, there are touching moments mixed in with the humor, as well as a number of frightening scenes where it's clear just how nasty the bad guys can be. There is even a sequence during the climactic fight which is at once hilarious and very, very creepy.
"Stardust" is not a huge-budget fantasy epic, and there are a handful of green-screen wide shots where that is rather painfully obvious. Fortunately, all the effects that actually count for the story are very well done. When she's happy, Yvaine shimmers with a twinkling starlight that is absolutely lovely. The witches' magic is elegant and frightening. And the lightening the pirates harvest is simple but wonderful.
It's difficult to critique the acting in a film like "Stardust" -- fairy tales aren't exactly known for their challenging parts. The characters are simple, for the most part, and the actors wear them effortlessly. Perhaps the invisibility of the actors' work in the film is a sign of their talent, or of the way that the film's pacing keeps one wrapped up in the story enough not to notice the craft behind the scenes.
Either way, the experience of the film is wonderful. Stardust is a delight, a fairy tale grownups can enjoy.
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Joan Allen,
Rated: PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action.
Parental Notes: This is about the same as the two previous films in terms of violence -- car chases and crashes, hand-to-hand combat, and some use of guns. The violence is fairly bloodless, but the sequences are long and intense. There's very little in the way of sensuality except for a flashback to a scene from the first film.
Jason Bourne, the assassin without a past, is back in the third installment of films loosely based on Robert Ludlum's books of the same titles. "The Bourne Ultimatum" is a roller coaster ride of a film from start to finish. I did yawn once -- but it was because I had been holding my breath. There's suspense a-plenty and the pacing is designed to give you just enough moments to relax for the tense moments to really pop.
"The Bourne Ultimatum" is the conclusion to the Bourne saga, which started when our hero, ably played by Matt Damon, was pulled from the ocean with two bullets in his back, a micro-projector in his hip, and no memory of who he was -- but plenty of awesome spy skills. He set out to find out the truth about his past, and in "The Bourne Ultimatum" he finally figures it all out -- but that's not the important thing. This is a movie about chases, about outwitting your enemies, about trying the impossible and succeeding because, well, you're Jason Bourne, and Bourne can do anything.
The acting is surprisingly good, given that there is so little actual need for good acting. Damon must run and shoot and be intense. As the CIA higher-ups trying to find him, Joan Allen and David Strathairn must be likewise intense, and good hearted and evil respectively. As Nicky Parsons, the CIA operative we've met in the earlier films, Julia Stiles must be sympathetic. That's about it, really. And yet, each of the actors is so talented that they can't help acting well, even in the face of a quasi-artistically wobbly camera and extended stunt sequences. It only makes the film more fun, because we're not distracted by terrible performances and so can really enjoy the action.
As with the other two films, the action careens breathlessly through exotic international locations. There's a foot chase over and through a marketplace and several apartment buildings in Morocco, a game of cat-and-mouse in a train station in England, and an exhilirating car chase here in the U.S., to mention only a few. Indeed, in retrospect, much of "The Bourne Ultimatum" seems to consist of chases of one sort or another.
Far be it from this reviewer to complain, however. When one goes to a Bourne movie, it's not to relax and unwind, it's to see eye-poppingly awesome chases and stunts, with a nice smattering of espionage and intrigue. The one serious flaw the film has is director Paul Greengrass' habit of using hand-held cameras for most of the shots. It's hard to appreciate the artistry of a fight when the camera is too shaky to watch properly. It's even harder to appreciate the work that goes into the various foot and car chases. Sure, the hand-held camera gives one the feeling of being there in the moment in those exciting sequences, but it is still annoying to those of us who like watching things unfold. It's even more annoying when it's used in quiet face-to-face conversations, where things usually aren't shaking unless we've had a few too many cups of coffee.
Aside from that, however, "The Bourne Ultimatum" is a fun ride. If you're looking for more Bourne and want to find out the truth about the mysterious agent, this is a must-see. Folks who have missed the earlier installments will probably be all right, as there are just enough flashbacks and exposition to help explain what's going on.