Product Description
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The Three Musketeers (Ray Stevenson, Matthew Macfadyen and Luke
Evans) are at rock bottom without a cause to fight for when the
young and hot-headed D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) seeks their help.
Discovering a conspiracy to overthrow the King they are thrown
into a terrifying battle against a beautiful double agent (Milla
Jovovich) and her villainous employer (Orlando Bloom), fighting
to save the crown and the future of Europe itself. Featuring
stunning special effects, director Paul W.S. Anderson brings The
Three Musketeers to the screen like never seen before.
.co.uk Review
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Did we really need another big-screen version of The Three
Musketeers? There have been six or seven versions of Alexandre
Dumas's classic tale of swashbuckling intrigue and -fighting
heroism in 17th-century France since the birth of motion
pictures, so the question of need really doesn't really enter
into it. This whiz-banging update is designed for a new
generation of 21st Century entertainment seekers, and it comes
complete with the kind of over-the-top CGI effects, novel 3D
tricks, and ramped-up action that consumers of a franchise like
Pirates of the Caribbean have come to expect. In fact, it's no
secret that the American, German, French, and British producers
were expecting to launch their own Pirates-like series for a long
string of Musketeer movies that might inspire the same kind of
dedicated followers, not to mention profits. But this exciting
and well-intentioned new brand of Musketeer mayhem probably won't
leave viewers hungry for another dose--or two, or three, or four.
The helmer is Paul W.S. Anderson, the same director responsible
for the Resident Evil series as well as dark, violent sci-fi
entries like Mortal Kombat, AVP, and Death Race. He brings a
similar heavy hand to the action sequences, many of which are
quite spectacular, especially a truly grand finale staged aboard
dueling tricked-out airships ostensibly designed by Leonardo da
Vinci. He also brings a light touch to the comedic elements that
often cross over into battle territory, although not as many of
the gags fly as high as the raucous and cleverly staged action.
The story follows Dumas's original tale when convenient and leaps
awkwardly into flights of somewhat misplaced fancy when it can't
make the familiar version of the musketeers' rebellious escapades
fit into its narrative needs. The adventure-seeking peasant
D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) makes his way to Paris hoping to join
the musketeers, the special squadron sworn to protect the vaguely
stooge-like king of France (Freddie Fox). In short order he has
met and made a bad first impression on the three most notorious
musketeers, Athos (Matthew MacFadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson),
and Aramis (Luke Evans). These are our heroes, and their
performances run the range from fair to pretty good. That is
admittedly faint praise, but fortunately there are an equal
number of villains to balance out the gamut of hammy
scenery-chewing. There's Orlando Bloom as the mustache-twirling
Lord Buckingham; Milla Jovovich as Milady, a backstabbing
seductress who has as much kick as she does in her role as queen
of the Resident Evil team; and Mads Mikkelsen in a return to
terrorising mode as a one-eyed, soulless heavy in the employ of
the church. Topping them all is Christoph Waltz, who brings to
his Cardinal Richelieu the same kind of menacing charm that made
Colonel Hans Landa so deliciously hiss-inducing in Inglorious
Basterds. What makes this restructured Musketeers feel a little
off is the contemporary vernacular peppered throughout the
dialogue. It's clearly targeted to a teen and young-adult
audience in the hopes that they will want more of this mix (think
Pirates again). The story is skewed young, with Logan Lerman and
Gabriella Wilde as a lady-in-waiting getting more plot time than
they can handle in their professional capacity as actors. But
there are abundant subplots and everybody gets one, the costumes
are spectacular, and the sets ooze lavish detail. The 3D is
fairly lackluster, so home-market viewers really won't be missing
anything on that front. What they'll get most of is a breezy,
stunt-studded, action-packed, and affably affected take on a
literary chestnut that, by the way, is also sequel-ready. --Ted
Fry