08/26/07: What the hell is with the "Princess Bride" comparisons?

This is at least the third review for this movie that I've seen comparing it to that movie. There are, perhaps, only four similarities between the two.

1) They take place in the past.
2) They both contain elements of the fantastic. 3) They're romantically-oriented comedies. 4) They involve a young man on a quest of some sort 'for' a woman.

The number of differences are far greater, but it seems like (and I'm just guessing, here) that much like filmmaking is so often based on taking a winning formula and then trying to tweak it just enough to release your own version (or, you know, make a sequel and don't change it at ALL) that film criticism operates the same way - i.e.: in order to properly review something, you try to find something else to compare it to, because reviewing something without some sort of template to which it can be compared is HARD.

I mean, really.

Stardust = Quest for obnoxious, materialistic girl; lightning-catching sky pirates; trio of murderous witches; fratricidal princes in pursuit; a chorus of wisecracking ghosts; a generally hapless protagonist; jokes (whether you like them or not) that are usually a bit dry.

The Princess Bride = An ex-pirate (oohh, another similarity - is THIS the one that did it?) on a quest; a giant, a spaniard and a dead sicilian; a prince who's about as threatening a foe as a wet cocker spaniel; a protagonist who, from the beginning, is of the "I'm already badass, the entire movie is just a matter of me getting to my foe so I can win" variety; and jokes that would be more suited to a stage in the Poconos in the 60's by a Buddy Hackett wannabe spouting Yiddish at the half- drunk crowd.

Similarities do not exactly abound, and yet apparently a wealth of critics have seen through all the differences to see some underlying desire for Stardust to be like the Princess Bride. Personally, if it had been, I'd have hated it. It just looks like a situation where a lot of reviewers who like the boring sort of humor featured in the Princess Bride were, perhaps, hoping for a replay here, and didn't get it, and are venting disappointment? But for myself, someone who'd rather dip my balls in gravy and tease a rabid wolverine than watch a retread of that crap, I really enjoyed it.

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