{"id":1439,"date":"2011-10-16T16:49:55","date_gmt":"2011-10-16T16:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=1439"},"modified":"2011-10-16T16:55:25","modified_gmt":"2011-10-16T16:55:25","slug":"the-three-musketeers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/action\/the-three-musketeers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Three Musketeers ***"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Author Alexandre Dumas<\/a>‘s classic novel The Three Musketeers<\/em><\/a> has been done to death, time and time again. None so like this swashbuckling silliness that\u2019s child-friendly and borrows heavily from Gulliver’s Travels<\/em> and the success of the Pirates<\/em> franchise.<\/p>\n

Paul W.S. Anderson<\/a>\u2019s film centres on young hothead D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman<\/a>) \u2013 as well as lots of gadgets \u2013\u00a0who comes to Paris to become a Musketeer and encounters with his soon-to-be friends and fellow Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The Musketeers unite to defeat a beautiful double agent, Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich<\/a>), and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.<\/p>\n

There is no denying how inventive director Anderson and co have been here, as well as injected a lot of harmless fun into the story. The 2011 version has a lot less clashing of swords and far more amazing flying machines \u2013 Anderson admitted to his and the production team\u2019s fascination with Germanic contraptions of centuries past at the London press conference. It’s still a shame, though, as the Musketeering quad of Matthew Macfadyen<\/a> (Athos), Ray Stevenson<\/a> (Porthos), Lerman (D’Artagnan) and Luke Evans<\/a> (Aramis) makes for a fine group of hearty personalities with some comical banter that gets a little overshadowed by all the gadgets on show \u2013 all in order to keep the youngsters engaged, presumably.<\/p>\n

It’s also very much a ‘Jovovich show’ \u2013 she\u2019s married to Anderson who made her a star in Resident Evil. As the female villain of the piece, Jovovich fares better at being devilish than her male counterparts, but her Matrix<\/em> slow-mo copycat moves and sporadic catwalk posing and TV make-up ad close-ups tire easily. Anderson appears to be steering Jovovich\u2019s career in a different comedy direction \u2013 or getting his missus involved in films that they and their kids can sit down together and watch.<\/p>\n

Typecast as a baddie since he burst onto the international scene as Col. Hans Landa in Tarantino\u2019s Inglourious Basterds<\/em>, Christoph Waltz<\/a> does his best, bored villainous piece as the cunning Richelieu and is always a pleasure to watch. It\u2019s the other dastardly men in this, Orlando Bloom<\/a> as the cocky Duke of Buckingham and Mads Mikkelsen<\/a> as the war-mongering Rochefort who are most disappointing. Bloom seems woefully ill equipped and miscast to play a conceited villain, while Bond baddie Mikkelsen\u2019s is easily overlooked and pretty much forgotten. Basically, there is not enough theatrics from both to match the film\u2019s goofy sentiment.<\/p>\n

Talking of panto, Freddie Fox<\/a> is a surprise tonic as young King Louis, making the part his own in a vulnerably eccentric manner, and portraying a younger monarch that is more fitting to the time period. His presence outshines that of Bloom\u2019s, even when he doesn\u2019t utter a word. It\u2019s a credit to Fox\u2019s talent and an exciting premise for like roles to come.<\/p>\n

Fans of Pirates<\/em> and Gulliver’s Travels<\/em> may be tempted by this giddy adaptation, but those who hold the tales of the Musketeers dearly to heart may feel a little wanting.<\/p>\n

3\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n

Follow on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

**WATCH THE TRAILER HERE<\/a>**<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author Alexandre Dumas‘s classic novel The Three Musketeers has been done to death, time and time again. None so like this swashbuckling silliness that\u2019s child-friendly and borrows heavily from Gulliver’s Travels and the success of the Pirates franchise. Paul W.S. Anderson\u2019s film centres on young hothead D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman) \u2013 as well as lots of … <\/p>\n

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