The film begins with the fabled three, Athos (Matthew Macfadyen, The Pillars of the Earth), Parthos (Ray Stevenson, Rome) and Aramis (Luke Evans, , along with Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil), as they slip their way into the vaults of Da Vinci to steal his secret plans for an airship. However, Milady betrays her love, Athos, and the other Musketeers in favor of the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom, Pirates of the Caribbean). Fast-forward a few years and the Musketeers have fallen into a rut, as their services are not really needed, and Athos is still nursing his broken heart. When young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson series), himself the son of a Musketeer, rolls into town filled with energy and fire, he ignites some of that old spark in the tired Musketeers.
That's a good thing because Milady de Winter begins plotting with Cardinal Richelieu (Christophe Waltz, Inglourious Basterds) and Buckingham against the young and not-so-bright King Louis XIII (Freddie Fox) and his wife, Anne (Juno Temple), and it will take all three of the Musketeers and their new compatriot, D'Artagnan, if France is to stay out of war with England and everyone is to keep their heads.
While The Three Musketeers has a good bit of action and some pretty cool fight scenes with Milla doing what she does best (kicking ass), I wasn't totally convinced of D'Artagnan's character as played by Logan Lerman. He was okay, just not as believable as the other cast members. Overall, everyone did a great job, especially Christoph Waltz, who was immaculate in his role of Richelieu, as he always is; and Bloom as the utterly snarky and cocky Buckingham was pretty good as well. The sets were quite fantastic and I was surprised to learn in the special features that very little CG was employed in the making of the film. Everyone knows practicals make it better. Most of the shooting was done in Germany, but the France of that time period was beautifully portrayed, and the costumes were exquisite. I must say I don't recall airships in the classic The Three Musketeers' story, but they made a great location for combat to play itself out. Add to that the fact that the film is shown in lush and brilliant high def Blu-ray, with intense surround sound enveloping the viewer with the sounds of battle, and you've got an action-packed and beautiful presentation.
Special features included a number of Extended and Deleted Scenes, Commentary, plus Access: Three Musketeers, which is a way to watch the film with tons of extras sprinkled throughout where applicable. These can be anything from tidbits of trivia, to a tally of the different weapons used by the Musketeers, to background interviews with the cast and crew. The film is literally chock full of extras and you'll learn a lot - who knew Milla was huge European history nerd?
The Three Musketeers is a good movie, just not a great movie. While I enjoyed this interpretation, my favorite version of The Three Musketeers will always be the 90's version with Keifer Sutherland. That being said, if you like your films with a hefty dash of high-flying action, give The Three Musketeers a rent. While it won't win any Oscars, it's still a fun movie.
Clips
Da Vinci's VaultIt's a Horse, Is It
Milady's Rooftop Fight
