Howard will be taking the place of Charlotte Gainsbourg who was set to play Kate Connor, the wife of human resistance hero John Connor, played by Christian Bale, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with another film she had already committed to. I can’t even begin to imagine how awful Charlotte Gainsbourg has to be feeling right about now since the other film is a nothing French comedy that no one in the states will probably ever see.

The character of Kate Connor was first introduced in Terminator 3 as Kate Brewster and was played by Claire Danes. Kate Brewster was actually the one who sent the last terminator that was played by Arnold back in time to protect John (since John had been assassinated by the same terminator on July 4, 2032).

In case you aren’t aware, Bryce Dallas Howard first gained attention as an actress in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village and later as the title role in Lady In The Water. She also played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in As You Like It.

I think she’s a great addition to the cast. She’s a good actress and she has a lot of credibility. There’s one thing we can definitely say about the producers of the new Terminator trilogy and that is that they are putting together an impressive cast of up and coming actors along with the already well established Christian Bale. If these movies don’t work, it won’t be because of the acting.

A side note about Direct TV and their HD offerings, they are now coming out with more and more HD pay-per-view releases and it’s allowed me to see movies like Once, 3:10 to Yuma, The Brave One and Stardust all fairly soon after the DVD release. With my useless HD-DVD player now, it’s still nice to know that there are options out there regardless.

And now back to Stardust.

It’s really hard to describe this film or know what to compare it to. Yeah, it’s a fairy tale for sure, but it’s not a comedy like Princess Bride was. Nor is it dark and sinister like Pan’s Labyrinth.

All I can say about it was that it was good fun and something the fantasy genre has been getting better at lately, with Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, etc.

The cast at first didn’t fill me with hope. Thinking of Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro playing parts in some crazy fairy tale just didn’t instill me with a lot of confidence.

But I have to say both were fantastic in Stardust, Pfeiffer mainly who had a much bigger role and was devilishly sexy and evil.

The plot of the movie is simply a boy who likes a girl, who likes a man, but uses the boy when she feels the need. The boy would do anything for her, and she’d do anything to string him along. So one night they see a falling star, which lands over this mysterious wall in England that no one must cross. The pass through it is even guarded and has been guarded forever by a lone old man.

The boy, named Tristan who is played by Charlie Cox, promises Victoria (with Sienna Miller playing the part) that he will cross the wall and bring the star back to her, if she agrees to marry him.

What Tristan doesn’t know is that he’s actually the son of a union between his human father and a woman from the Kingdom of Stormhold, and that the star that fell is more than just a star. There is also a dying king with four sons who also need to find the fallen star in order to retrieve a ruby amulet that will make them the next king.

Pfeiffer is a witch, with two sisters, all old and gnarled, who also want the star as it brings them youth and beauty, plus prolonged life.

The fun unfolds, with three separate quests all focusing on finding the star. It doesn’t give much away to reveal that the star is actually a maiden from the heavens, played by Claire Danes, who is absolutely radiant and beautiful here, the perfect casting choice I must say. She brought the role to life and gives her character, Yvaine, the brilliance and awe you’d think a star would have if it lived and breathed.

It’s a great adventure in a land beautifully created by director Matthew Vaughn, who shockingly was also the producer on some of my favorite films ever, like Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Talk about films with polar opposite genres.

I especially enjoyed the narration by Sir Ian McKellen and the ghosts of the dead princes who had all been killed by their brothers who want the throne. Some of their moments as spectators in all the things going on are hilarious.

The film was obviously not up for any awards, but a rating of 8.1 on IMDB and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes kind of concurs with my feelings.

A fun movie, sweet love story, humor, action and fantasy all wrapped into one.

AML Rating: B+