Every Matthew Vaughn Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Stardust is the black sheep in Matthew Vaughn's field, a family-friendly fantasy epic among action films, superhero movies and gangster flicks.

The film whisks the audience off to the magical kingdom of Stormhold, following a man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) on a quest to retrieve a fallen star for his missus, played by Homeland's Claire Danes. Ah, isn't that nice?

It's rich in whimsy, but was also camp, cluttered and unfocused at times, which isn't to say Stardust is a lost cause, far from it.

Vaughn is known for planting his own unique stamp on genres, and the fantasy category proved to be no exception. Sweeping photography and panoramic vistas make Stardust a visual spectacle, and it has a personality all of its own.

An unwritten rule in fantasy states that epic battles are a must and romance is for wusses, but Vaughn dared to ignore that, placing love at the core of the movie, and there's enough chemistry between Cox and Danes to make this approach work.