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There were two occasions where I feared Stardust was about to fall apart. One involved an ongoing gag where the King's sons would return after their deaths as ghosts and follow their remaining brother's quest to be king. That's a tricky concept which walks a tightrope between humorous and idiotic. Luckily, things never get too silly, and the ghosts actually have several hilarious lines while commentating on the proceedings. The second potential catastrophe was the head pirate, Captain Shakespeare, portrayed by none other than Robert De Niro. He just happens to be gay and a cross-dresser. This is very dangerous territory that could have quickly become a parody, but somehow the film and De Niro's skill never falter. Other comedic highlights include a quite funny cameo appearance by Ricky Gervais and an old kung fu geezer who guards the breach in the wall to Stormhold.

The standout performance in the project belongs to Michelle Pfeiffer. She manages to be both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Stardust is the rare film that actually showcases how evil a witch can really be. Pfeiffer's character, Lamia, is one nasty bitch who has no hesitation vaporizing anyone who gets in her way with magic. Mark Strong, who is best known as Guy Ritchie's designated bad guy, also gives a memorable performance as Prince Septimus; an unscrupulous man who desperately wants to be king.

Finally, the directing of Matthew Vaughn is what takes Stardust to the next level of entertainment. This was only his second film and he already shows incredible skill with the camera. I have never seen Layer Cake, and I had only heard of Vaughn in the past because he was the guy who dropped out of X-Men 3 two weeks before it began filming. This led to the hiring of Brett Ratner and a fairly poor superhero movie. I can only imagine how badass the X-Men would have been after witnessing the way Matthew handled witches. I'm looking forward to his handling of the upcoming Kick-Ass movie which is based on a psychotic comic book and may be very difficult to adapt successfully.

The cinematography in Stardust is breathtaking, and the director uses several swooping shots from a helicopter to show off the landscape of Scotland and Iceland while horses and carriages swiftly progress on their journey below to a rousing score. The beauty of these shots is comparable to the New Zealand cinematography in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. When he is not taking advantage of his scenery, Vaughn is using flawless CGI techniques to sweep the camera across a magical kingdom, into telescopes, around flying pirate ships, and through a castle ceiling. My absolute favorite shot in the film involves Septimus throwing in slow-motion several domino-like bones, which help to foresee the future, up into the air only to have the bones land in the hands of Lamia who also owns a similar tool. This is a dazzling edit that I could watch a hundred times.

I cannot recommend Stardust highly enough to anyone who has not had the pleasure of watching it. This was also the last film that I saw with my father, so it is an emotional memory for me as well.

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