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Updated Friday, October 19, 2007 0:00 am TWN, By Nelson H. Wu, The China Post news staff

Stardust 星塵傳奇

Like the fallen star that sets everything in motion, the fairy-tale fantasy “Stardust” shines only on occasion. But when it does, the picture bursts with wild imagination, a wicked sense of humor and something that can only be called magic. Then, just as suddenly, “Stardust’s” radiance is dimmed by monotonous special-effects, generic action sequences and postmodern jokes that, in our post-“Princess Bride” and “Shrek” world, fall flat.

Ultimately, “Stardust,” an adaptation of the cult novel by Neil Gaiman, wants it both ways: It wants to parody the conventions of epic fantasies and it wants to play into them. The resulting tone jumps from adult sophistication to high-camp to juvenile silliness, so when the picture tries for a final moment of poignancy, it rings patently false. What “Stardust” needs, then, is a stronger guiding vision to transform it from a film worth watching for those moments when it reaches celestial highs to a sustained flight of fancy.

The screenplay, co-written by Jane Goldman and director Matthew Vaughn, initially has a hard enough time getting off the ground. It opens with a number of false starts as unnecessary scenes fill viewers in on the mythology of this universe and the backstory of a number of characters. In short, “Stardust” keeps tripping over its own plot before the story begins.

Upshot of the opening reels is that, first off, in a sequence that brings back memories of “The Village,” a pre-Industrial England exists next to the mystical kingdom of Storm-hold, with a wall separating the two. Secondly, naive villager Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) pines for snobbish Victoria (Sienna Miller), who ignores Tristan until he says he loves her so much that he’ll venture into Stormhold to bring her back a star.

The actual story plays out as a conventional quest. Said star falls to Earth and takes the form of a human girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes), who sparkles only when she’s happy — but lately she doesn’t have much reason to smile. Two other people besides Tristan want a piece of the heavenly body, but for different reasons. Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) seeks to capture Yvaine before his sibling rivals to fulfill a royal prophesy that will send him to Stormhold’s throne. The evil witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) needs the star to restore her youth and powers.

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	Like the fallen star that sets everything in motion, the fairy-tale fantasy “Stardust” shines only on occasion. But when it does, the picture bursts with wild imagination, a wicked sense of humor and something that can only be called magic. Then, just as suddenly, “Stardust’s” radiance is dimmed ... Enlarge Photo


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