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Written by: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn (screenplay), Neil Gaiman (novel)
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Sienna Miller, Rober de Niro, Ian McKellen (voice), Ben Barnes, Henry Cavill, Peter O'Toole, Mark Strong, Ricky Gervais, Michell Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm.
Verdict
This is a fun adventure movie that looks like it's for kids but has more than enough content to entertain adults as well. It's a great idea, though the parts are greater than the whole. The romance at the center of this movie is the least interesting part. Plenty of side characters grab your attention, though the guest cameos can become a distraction. It's a neat idea that doesn't quite land.
It depends.
Review
This falls into the fantastical adventure category. The Princess Bride is the easy comparison, but this is never as fun or sharp. It's less imaginative and more adult than Time Bandits.
Tristan (Charlie Cox) lives in a magical world where he's infatuated with a girl that's already taken. When he sees a shooting star, he promises to catch it to win her over. It's an oft used premise that more and more is male fantasy of forcing a relationship with a woman that has no interest.
What helps this movie are the two additional plots where princes search for the falling star to assume kingship and a witch wants the star to regain her youth. Both of these plots are much more interesting than Tristan, but what makes this unique and typical to many of Gaiman's works is that the falling star is anthropomorphized into a human, Yvaine (Claire Danes).
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| Charlie Cox, Claire Danes play Tristan, Yvaine |
I get why people would like this, a fairy tale that's more broad, but it never grabbed me. It certainly has moments, but overall it makes me want to watch The Princess Bride instead. I like a lot of Gaiman's work, and his influence and story ideas are recognizable, but that's not enough. This manages to have fun with plenty of humor, but I never took to the story. I'd be willing to bet the book is more engrossing.
Tristan entraps the star. She's understandably upset, and that leads to them developing feelings as he eventually saves her from princes and witches. It's too trite even with the way this tries to reinvent the opposites attract story trope.
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