Time: 110 Minutes
Age Rating: M – contains medium level violence
Cast:
Logan Lerman as D’Artagnan
Matthew Macfadyen as Athos
Ray Stevenson as Porthos
Luke Evans as Aramis
Milla Jovovich as Milady de Winter
Mads Mikkelsen as Captain Rochefort
Gabriella Wilde as Constance Bonacieux
James Corden as Planchet
Juno Temple as Anne of Austria
Freddie Fox as King Louis XIII
Til Schweiger as Cagliostro
Orlando Bloom as Duke of Buckingham
Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

D’Artagnan and the three musketeers must face off with the sinister Richlieu, the Duke of Buckingham and the traitorous Milady in order to stop France from attacking England

I have heard of Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, it’s a classic and has received numerous adaptations. However, I haven’t read the original book, and the only film version I’ve ever seen is the Paul W.S. Anderson directed one from 2011. It received a somewhat negative response, but I enjoyed it when I first checked it out, and I still enjoyed it rewatching it.

Again, my only experience with The Three Musketeers is this movie, so I have no firm knowledge about the source material. That being said, I can gather that Paul W.S. Anderson has taken great liberties with the story and has done his own thing with it. At the very least, I admire how audacious and silly his direction is. The writing really isn’t that good, you’ve definitely seen better adventure movies, and the plot here doesn’t make the most sense. However, I can’t deny that I found the movie to be very enjoyable. Everything is exaggerated and over the top from the deliciously evil villains, to the cheesy one liners and battles on airships. Compared to much of Anderson’s filmography, The Three Musketeers is a children’s movie which leans towards adventurous escapism, and I liked it as such, even if it can get a bit too silly for its own good. It’s helped by the decent pacing after the first act. I will note that it does have quite the bold ending in which it proposes a sequel, however after the insanity that happened in the movie, I would’ve watched a sequel if they actually went ahead with it.

This movie has an absurdly talented cast, and they were the highlight of the movie. The actors including Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Matthew MacFadyen, and Ray Stevenson are quite good in their parts. It’s also boasted by some memorable villains, or at least memorable villain performances. Mads Mikkelsen sports an eye patch and is great in his small screentime, and Orlando Bloom plays a moustache twirling villain who hams it up to great effect. Ever since Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz has been typecast as villains which don’t come close to reaching his performance as Hans Landa. That said, his role here is definitely among his better post IB villains. The only real weak link is an unwanted James Corden as the comedy relief. He’s distracting more than anything, and the movie would’ve been better without him.

Paul W.S. Anderson’s direction worked for what he was going for. The visuals are entertaining and over the top, much like the rest of the movie. There are plenty of action set pieces which are quite entertaining and kinetic, with great stunts and well choreographed fight sequences. While it does have Anderson’s typical quick cut editing, its less invasive and distracting than some of his other films. There’s definitely a lot of goofy and dodgy CGI, but even that somewhat adds to the enjoyable silliness.

Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers is definitely silly and cheesy, but nonetheless entertaining, with over the top and stylish action scenes and a fun cast. It’s probably not the best movie if you want an accurate adaptation of the source material, but it is still an enjoyable adventure flick.