The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan

Fans of Dumas' might not agree, but "The Three Musketeers" is at best "just" period-conditioned consumable reading, excessively naive and heavily romanticized. Directors attempting to adapt the book were aware of its limitations and the resulting risks for today's audience, often opting for exaggeration and comedic stylization. Martin Bourboulon takes a different approach, opting for a "serious" adventure-romantic treatment lined with a star-studded cast and solid production design. It's arguably the "dirtiest" and most raw treatment of the material I've encountered so far. Despite all efforts, it falls short. It encounters similar pitfalls as directors of recent Bond films, trying to imbue their hero with deeper psychology and adding more artistic elements, yet still ending up with an overblown action movie featuring an invincible hero who dispatches scores of opponents without batting an eye. Here, in the confrontation scene with the cardinal's guards, the quartet of heroes handles six times the numerical superiority without a scratch (and moreover, in a disadvantageous situation of surprise and encirclement!). The action fight scenes are mostly shot in a confusing manner, but the positives clearly outweigh the negatives. Eva Green as Milady and Vincent Cassel as Athos are reliable highlights. Overall impression: 80%. (06/10/2024)

In the future, on a repeat, I'll always prefer Lester's Musketeers anyway, because it has enough juicy popcorn to feed all of Nigeria, it doesn't skimp on the humour (which is almost absent in this French version) and the vivacious Michael York is like the finest wine as D'Artagnan. On the other hand, I like this French unpolished concept. Especially the magnificent production design! Muddy, unpaved, sandy streets, men sweaty and dirty (and with yellow teeth ), when, as we know, hygiene was a priority in the 17th century, even among the high classes, and the camera with muted colours adds a lot to that realistic impression. And what can we say, cherchez la femme Eva Green is after all a sexier milady than Faye Dunaway. So actually, when I sum up the comparison, I come out with a tie, and that's not a bad mark at all. (11/11/2023)

Finally, a properly filmed legend. Although not so heavyweight in terms of the actors' names, it can't compare with the 90s version, but actually in everything else it does and in many parameters it even surpasses it. This new remake is much less of a likeable pulp flick and much more of a gritty, dark film of intrigue with excellent sets and fantastically shot action, but there's very little of that so far and that's a shame. Only a fraction of films in French production have this kind of bold handheld camerawork and editing. It's expected that the sequel will be suitably epic and live up to expectations, as many fans are duly hyped after the first installment, and quite rightly so. PS: Captain Rochefort is missing! (10/15/2023)

A swashbuckling, raucous and modern adaptation of Dumas' classic. More emphasis is placed on the action scenes, which are gritty, dynamic, and with great choreography. There have been so many versions of “The Three Musketeers” that I'm not even sure how it was supposed to be done, but the snipers in the church is a very good sequence. Eva Green is incredible as Milady, and overall it's a very strong cast. The ending is outrageously open and I'm looking forward to the second one. (04/29/2024)

The concept of an old-school adventure film, the kind that is no longer in vogue today. This is Dumas to the core. Admittedly, in terms of style, it's dirtier and grittier than usual, with a few (not bad at all) subplots of its own, but otherwise it's exactly what you'd want from a modern adaptation of a classic. The production design, the locations, the costumes, the choreography of the single take action, the pacing, the characters, everything is so classic Three Musketeers that is almost surprising. I expected (or rather feared) a greater mincing of the source material in a (post)modern package. As soon as I left the cinema I immediately looked to see when the second part would come, and sadly, it isn’t until the end of the year. (04/15/2023)