Not terrible, but I would recommend the book instead.

just a cute, light, entertaining movie. not as good as the book, but what ever is?

What’s really odd is that people say they liked the last half of the movie, but the last half of the movie was the part that was almost nothing like the book. They added and changed SO much to make it more Hollywood formulaic fun and effects and characters (the lightning ship captain’s “traits”, the giant battle scene at the end). I’m not necessarily complaining, but the movie should perhaps have chosen to be either quirky and surprising and charmingly funny like the book or just fun, humor, and effects like (most of) the movie, not half of one and half of the other. Part of the fun of the book was figuring it all out (and the charming curse which was not even in the movie at all!) but the movie just laid it all out there without question—or if there was a question it was only for the stupidest of viewers (without giving anything away).

I was just disappointed. I did greatly enjoy it, and I think if maybe there was more of the second half type humor and scenes and in-your-face blockbuster fantasy I’d probably enjoy it more, as well as if they’d stayed closer to the book and mellowed it out. Either way. It just didn’t meld together very well for me.

I love the Princess Bride. So many people compared this movie to the Princess Bride. It’s not the Princess Bride.

Although that was a bit disappointing, it was still a pretty good movie. Not too serious, not too hokey. Somewhere in between.

The human star idea could have gone really wrong, but I think somehow they pulled it off.

I agree with the below review. The first half was really not great, but I loved the second half. Maybe it just took me a while to get into the fantasy world of the film. I’m not sure if I would recommend it, but I might watch it again on a lazy Sunday evening…

I was looking forward to seeing this. In fact, I almost went to see it on the big screen when it first came out, but now I’m glad I didn’t. It was not as good as expected.

The film starts off slowly. Very slowly. It establishes the existence of a magical kingdon adjacent to Engliand and separated by a simple stone wall. To win his love interest, a village youth, Tristan (played nicely by Charlie Cox), sets off in search of a fallen star beyond the wall. But the star has taken human form (Claire Danes) and is also sought by the son of the land’s dead king (Peter O’Toole), who seeks to claim the kingdom’s throne.

By the time Michelle Pfeiffer appears as the wonderfully evil witch Lamia, who needs the star to regain her youth, director Matthew Vaughn had almost lost me. Robert DeNiro makes his appearance even later, so if you pick this up to see him, you’ve got a long wait. But it’s worth waiting for: As the pirate-like Captain Shakespeare who collects lightening bolts, he has to live up to a ruthless reputation for violence, even though he’s really a cross-dressing pussycat underneath. A very funny part for him.

I’d give this film thumbs down for the first half, and thumbs up for the second. A lot of funny bits featuring the ghostly princes were left on the cutting room floor, but you can see them in the special features, along with a selection of bloopers. Worth watching? Kinda, sorta, maybe – but definitely NOT the compelling fantasy I had hoped it would be.