OK, I saw STARDUST last week. Everyone seems to love it, so I was going to just accept the fact that I enjoyed about 1/2 of it and keep my mouth shut. But I cannot.
Everyone still loves it. What a great adventure, a fantastic story!
I had a decent time at the movie. I didn’t feel like my time was wasted. There were parts of it that were fun and everyone performed as well as they were allowed.
I say “allowed” because there was no character development at all. In the Prologue, we know nothing about why the Slave girl chooses Dunstan for her lover, and I’m guessing because there was no reasoning behind it. It was just a plot point. And I’m sorry, but if the first time you ventured out of your town’s walls, you encountered a beautiful woman in chains who took your virginity, wouldn’t you go again?
Oh, and if you blinked, then you would have missed the Prologue entirely.
And that’s what bothers me. Whenever people say they enjoy the Story, they really mean they enjoy the Plot. The entire story is just a series of Plot Points arranged for High Adventure. It was like PIRATES 2, but with characters that were likable ( I say this as someone who is an avid fan of the first PIRATES and barely acknowledges the rest of the trilogy).
Production design was beautiful. Claire Danes looked beautiful. I could not have cared less about the romance between the fallen star and although Charlie Cox is awfully cute as Tristan, he isn’t given any more character than that. He’s cute and in love with the wrong girl. Sienna Miller plays the wrong girl, Victoria, and does it beautifully. She is helped by the fact that the 2 dimensions of her character are deeper than most of the leads.
Did I mention it was beautiful? Oh good. That’s about all anyone cared about.
We are spoon-fed plot points and subtext. Was the book a Reading Primer?
I do suggest seeing the movie, however, in this scenario: it would be great filler as you’re movie-hopping, and you wouldn’t miss a thing by seeing it in small bursts.
-Cindy
