How many of us can sit through a movie for children and be glad we did?  Stardust achieves this because in short is a fairy tale for grown-ups.   Like most great fantasy stories that are not remakes or Hollywood adaptations from classic novels, Stardust is brought to the big screen via the world of graphic novels, a.k.a. comic books.  Written by Neil Gaiman (DC Comics, The Sandman), Stardust is not quite a period piece, where the village of “Wall” (England) shares a walled border with a magical Kingdom of Stormhold.   Note that Neil Gaiman is far from just a hero to adult comic book readers, he has penned American God’s making him a serious novelist as well.  Some even say that J.K. Rowling stole great ideas for her Harry Potter books from Neil’s work.   True or not, the point I’m making is that for those of you that don’t understand the value of comic books (graphic novels), you are missing out on some of the best stories and writers.

There are adult concepts that very young children won’t grasp, and although I needed to lean over and explain some things to my four year old, the characters, visuals and action were balanced enough as to keep him happy in his seat.  But as I mentioned, this is an adult fairy tale, which if you think about it ...consider Grimm’s fairy tales; they had some grim situations and outcomes that can make a mom or dad squirm when read to a child.  This story is PG but as acceptable as any of Grimm’s fairy tales.

Unlike most fantasy fairy tales, this one quickly departs from prince rescues princess concept immediately despite there being a ...   more »