The Three Musketeers, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, stars Logan Lerman, Matthew MacFadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom and Christoph Waltz. Be prepared for sword fighting and campy lines galore! This movie isn't better as a "remake" but it's entertaining if you're not looking for much depth or overall substance.
Plot:
The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.
Let's start with what I liked and work our way down. I liked the sets, and Summit Entertainment dished out a big wad of dough on this one. They are visually stunning and hands down you do have some "wow" moments aesthetically. Costumes were absolutely gorgeous with the men and women both in some stunning outfits that look great to flaunt around. While a few costumes took over the top to a new level, if you like gaudy ball attire you'll enjoy what the film delivers. Swords fights are abundant, but what Musketeer movie would be complete without them?! Some of you reading this review may remember that we at Sheep attended WonderCon earlier this year in San Francisco. While there we sat through many-a-panel, and this film was one which we attended. Luke Evans and Logan (god I love that name) Lerman were amongst the group promoting this film. During that short 30 min Q&A we learned just how much sword training all the actors had to put in for this film and it definitely shows in the finished product. En garde! If you love some campyness in your movies then you'll be pleased with the amount tossed around in this one. It's certainly over the top but that seems to be the main goal here.
What happened to the accents? It seemed Jersey was in the house for this one because I couldn't tell these guys were supposed to be French. A few of the English actors did a little better in that department but young Logan (dude I still love your name) didn't even try to make much of an attempt in the linguistics department. The show stealers here have to go to MacFadyen and Bloom both for different reason but equally awarded. It's nice to see Bloom have fun in a role and you could tell he took this one to the eccentric bank.
Now the negatives. I couldn't get behind many of the characters due to a disconnect in the script writing. While it's a fun fantasy tale, you get so much fantasy it occasionally looses focus on the dialog between these guys. Milla plays a double agent who's supposed to be devious and deceitful but I felt she just couldn't pull the character off and made her motivations unbelievable. The movie just fails to engage with its audience. It does have some similarities with the Pirates franchise so if you liked those and enjoy the 'Black Pearl' prepare to walk the plank once again. Arr! Sure you get some laugh out loud moments, but they're too few and simply cannot carry the film by themselves. In the end the plot just doesn't make sense and the movie certainly won't make nearly half what this studio dished out for the big sets and costumes. BUT I have to admit it's fun in its moronic way. Just don't expect much and you'll be less disappointed.
I will "recommend" that you either A. catch the cheap showing or B. rent it for a $1 at Redbox early next year.
Getting 2 "I knew I should have worn Blue" Sheep
KD
