ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

"Fairytale for adults" Stardust brings to the cinema a strain of magical fantasy that's rarely seen on screen, despite being wildly popular in written form. In the village of Wall, next door to fairyland, shop-boy Tristian woos the village beauty by promising to fetch her a star they see fall. On his quest to retrieve said star, which turns out to be a lovely, if angry young woman - the two encounter murderous princes, wicked witches, and lightning-poacher sky-pirates. Plus, of course, the essential fairytale ingredients of true destiny and hearts' desire

Charlie Cox as Tristian leads an excellent cast, effortlessly convincing as both shopboy of the start and swashbuckler of the finish, though co-star Claire Danes - the fallen star - tends towards the whingy. The stand-out performance comes from Michelle Pfieffer who, as evil sorceress Lamia, ages from preening beauty to vengeful crone before our very eyes. Yes, there's a Ricky Gervaise cameo, but hey, you get to see him meet a grisly end. Now that's magical.

"RIOT OF ORIGINALITY"

Massively pretty to look at, Stardust bursts with (original novel) author Gaiman's trademark invention. Every shot glitters with detail, every character hints at volumes of tales about them that could be told - and quite possibly are, at least in Gaiman's head. In places, this riot of originality almost cramps the story - the many dazzling distractions the film offers sometimes get in the way of the pace. Still, it's rare to have the opportunity to complain about too much invention.

Stardust is out in the UK on 19th October 2007.