Stardust

Stardust, director Matthew Vaughn’s enchanting fairytale/comedy based upon the novel by Neil Gaiman, will undoubtedly draw a lot of comparisons to a certain classic storybook film, The Princess Bride. Those comparisons are much deserved. A summer that started slow continues to gain steam with this, a fantasy adventure that provides wonderment, laugh-out-loud moments, and terrific star turns from Michelle Pfeiffer, Charlie Cox and a hilariously campy Robert De Niro. A fallen star (Claire Danes) is rescued by a lad named Tristan (Charlie Cox), who must protect her from an evil witch (Pfeiffer), who wants to capture her and eat her heart. (This is not a film for the kids.) De Niro plays a fierce captain of a flying ship who has a dandy secret. The humor is strong and frequent, and the story has a cool Grimm’s Fairy Tales vibe. Pfeiffer is having a great summer with this and Hairspray.