This is just a silly movie about silly things starring famous people acting all silly.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Aims for a "Princess Bride" mix of whimsy and wonderment, the sardonic and the romantic, with only sporadic success. Both visually and narratively cluttered, the film diverts more than it enchants.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
There's less whimsy to be found here than in "The Princess Bride," but the film is likely to appeal to the same group of older children and adults that appreciated Rob Reiner's classic.
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Its sensibility stays true to Gaiman's style: heroic, wryly funny, but bloodthirsty as great fairy tales can often be.
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Stardust has lost a good amount of its magic in the transformation from page to screen. It's the cinematic equivalent of getting a punch in the mind's eye by a bunch of faeries wearing the coolest Doc Martens this side of Florin.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
It's the big stuff that doesn't really work, at least well enough to be called special.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
It's the closest the movies have come in a while to the nudgy, knowing fairy-tale enchantment of "The Princess Bride."
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
Danes doesn't quite fit into the mindscape – she's too bland for a human star – but Cox comes of age quite convincingly, De Niro is a hoot, as is Ricky Gervais as a slimy tradesman. Pfeiffer has a field day.