Take a falling star and add to it the world's most clueless hero, wicked witches, backstabbing princes and a sky pirate with an unusual secret.  The result sounds either like a typical run-of-the-mill fairy tale or an utter mess.  Despite having a very busy and oftentimes confusing plot, "Stardust" overcomes these obstacles to become a delightfully enjoyable fantasy film.

The story centers around the English town of Wall.  Wall is bordered by ...well by a wall.  But this is no ordinary wall.  This wall  is the barrier to a forbidden and magical realm.  When a young man ventures into this world, he returns as a father.  18 years later, the child (Tristan) is now grown and spots a falling star seeking to find it to win his love.  Crossing over the wall, he finds the star is a young woman and that he's not the only one looking for her.

Written by acclaimed novelist and comic book writer Neil Gaiman, "Stardust" is a busy story that attempts to follow three interconnecting storylines simultaneously.  Truthfully, there's so much backstory to explain and so many characters to introduce that the movie gets off to a clunky start.  A half hour in, I was wondering if this thing would work or if it would collapse under it's own weight.

Our her, Tristan (Charlie Cox), is clueless and naive and his romantic interest (Sienna Miller) is so vain and spoiled that it's tempting to not care.  But that changes when Yvaine, the fallen star (Claire Danes), and an evil witch seeking youth (Michelle Pfeiffer) join the story.  It gets even better when Robert De Niro's sky pirate Captain Shakespeare shows up.  He's an absolute riot in a comic role that spoofs his tough guy persona and he easily steals the film.

Through his adventures, Tristan makes the progression from boy to man and it's natural and refreshing.  He's the film's focus, but the movie succeeds on the strength of the actors and a very witty script.  Pfeiffer is fantastic as the old hag witch and much like De Niro, she gets some of the film's best humor.

"Stardust" has equal amounts of humor, action, dark thrills, fantasy wonderment and romance.  It compares best to "The Princess Bride" as a fantasy better suited for adults than children.  While it doesn't have any material too offensive or scandalous, "Stardust" is PG-13 for a reason.  Adults and older children should have no problems with the movie.  Patience pays off with this one.  Once you make it past the first 30 or so minutes, you'll find "Stardust" a wondrous and magical film well worth your time.

4 out of 5

Stardust
PG-13