A Short Review of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust"
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:26 pm
My wife and I saw "Stardust" last Saturday evening and it was superb. It took the basic plotline of the book but it differed in some details, mostly in the ending. But this is one of those rare occasions where the book and the film come out nearly equal. Yes, there is somewhat less detail in the film than in the book, but that is only natural for, as J. K. Rowling put it, having everything in one of her books in a film would mean the the film would be 8-9 hours or more long. But Gaiman was very much involved in the screenplay and it shows. His senses of whimsy, of wonder, and of ironic humor appear all throughout the film.
Michelle Pfeiffer turns in a bravura performance as Lamia, the evil witch. I love watching actors and actresses playing villains as they seem to really enjoy the roles and she truly does.
The cameo by Robert DeNiro as the captain of the sky-ship is a much expanded role from the book and it is a true highlight of the film. I suspect that it is also a send-up of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow character from "The Pirates of the Caribbean." Also, my wife LOVED the special effects of the sky-ship sailing through thunderstorms.
The ending of the film is much more action-oriented and will appeal much more to the teenagers than would the ending in the book and it gives room for some truly spectacular special effects.
There were trailers for a couple of other films due out. One was Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf" which looks really good in the trailers at least and the other was "The Golden Compass" which also looked ptetty good. The IMDB site for "Beowulf" shows Neil Gaiman as one of the screenwriters for the film and that is a very hopeful sign.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/fullc redits#wr...
And here is the IMDB site for "The Golden Compass":
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/
Michelle Pfeiffer turns in a bravura performance as Lamia, the evil witch. I love watching actors and actresses playing villains as they seem to really enjoy the roles and she truly does.
The cameo by Robert DeNiro as the captain of the sky-ship is a much expanded role from the book and it is a true highlight of the film. I suspect that it is also a send-up of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow character from "The Pirates of the Caribbean." Also, my wife LOVED the special effects of the sky-ship sailing through thunderstorms.
The ending of the film is much more action-oriented and will appeal much more to the teenagers than would the ending in the book and it gives room for some truly spectacular special effects.
There were trailers for a couple of other films due out. One was Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf" which looks really good in the trailers at least and the other was "The Golden Compass" which also looked ptetty good. The IMDB site for "Beowulf" shows Neil Gaiman as one of the screenwriters for the film and that is a very hopeful sign.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/fullc redits#wr...
And here is the IMDB site for "The Golden Compass":
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/