Although it began life as a graphic novel, "Stardust" displays a style and content far different from all those familiar comic book flicks, like the Batman series, or the one-shot shockers like "From Hell" or "A History of Violence." Combining a consciously naive narrative with some remarkable special effects, and employing a batch of accomplished stars, the movie depends upon a number of sources, from traditional folklore and fairy tales to Arthurian romance, to some of the most memorable cinematic fantasies, like "The Wizard of Oz," "The Thief of Bagdad," and "The Lord of the Rings."

Accompanied by the sort of comforting voiceover narration that recalls simple, sentimental stories told by the fireside, the movie immediately opens with a sense of some other time, some other place, far from the ordinary reality we like to think we know. Once upon some vague moment in the 19th century in an English hamlet called Wall, a young man named Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) crosses the barrier that gives his village its name to retrieve a fallen star as a pledge of his love for the beautiful Victoria (Sienna Miller). On the other side of that wall lies another world, the magical land of Stormhold, where Tristan encounters a series of adventures with many adversaries who seek the star for their own nefarious reasons.

The star in effect incarnates itself as a lovely young woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes), sought by an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants to devour her heart to gain eternal youth, and by a band of fratricidal brothers, one of whom who will inherit the kingdom of Stormhold if he captures Yvaine's ruby necklace. Naturally, in the course of the various dangerous encounters with those pursuers and others, Tristan and Yvaine fall in love, defeat their several enemies, ascend to the throne of Stormhold, and live happily etc.

That description of course suggests something juvenile and silly, a gooey, saccharine pudding of clichés or some clotted English porridge of utter nonsense suitable for consumption only by children and deeply sentimental adults. In reality the picture sparkles with odd, whimsical humor and some rather broad comedy aimed at a reasonably mature audience. Even in its darkest and most violent moments, it conveys a sense of fun and now and then a rare quality of exuberance, a delight in its own devices.

The movie employs a variety of special effects to work a magic suitable to its subjects and people. It includes a trio of witches who work their malevolent craft with spectacular results, an enchanted chain that ties itself, a unicorn to carry Yvaine to safety, a chorus of ghosts who comment on the action, maps that metamorphose into landscape, and best of all, a wonderful pirate ship looking like something out of Jules Verne, that in a grand conceit, sails the skies instead of the seas, capturing lightning to sell to a shady dealer.

"Stardust" features the work of a number of distinguished actors, including Peter O'Toole as the evil old king of Stormhold, who ascended to the throne by murdering his brothers, a practice he recommends to his sons. Michelle Pfeiffer, who first earned her wand in "The Witches of Eastwick," extends herself as Lamia, a hideously aged crone who temporarily regains her youth and beauty while hunting for Yvaine, but keeps sagging back into senescence as her magic periodically wanes. As Captain Shakespeare, leader of the pirate crew, Robert De Niro appears to be enjoying himself more than anyone, in public a fierce sky sailor, in private a motherly transvestite.

The sets provide a suitable context for the fairy tale unreality of the narrative, anchoring the marvelous actions in the authenticity of a charming rural hamlet in the English countryside. That location contrasts with the massive, glowing towers of Stormhold, the magical city in a parallel universe across the wall of Wall. The camera swoops and soars like the pirate ship all over those two major locations, matching in its grace and freedom the rich exuberance of "Stardust," which glitters as brightly as its title.

"Stardust" (PG-13), directed by Matthew Vaughn, is now playing at area theaters.