DVDs & Films Forum - The Three Musketeers (2011) - Page 1

Let's get the good stuff out of the way. The film is, in essence, very faithful to the original Alexandre Dumas tale. The swordfighting is some of the best I've seen on screen since the first POTC, and the visuals are absolutely stunning.

Now the bits that I found very annoying. Everyone in the film is supposed to be French, but speaks with an English accent, apart from Richleu and Milla. That I can forgive, but they gave the role of D'artagnan of an American kid (Percy jackson, actually), and while I understand that the film-makers wanted to appeal to an international audience, they go and cast Dexter Bloody Fletcher as his father. I have nothing whatsoever against Dexter, I believe he's one of the best character actors we've got, but as he's the father of a kid with a yank accent, that means, for the purposes of continuity, he has an accent himself, and it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Milla Jolovich smoulders on screen to the point it become ridiculous. Yes, she's a beautiful woman with a good figure, but I actually got bored of her heaving bosom and sultry glances.

The score. The best way I can describe it is 50% inappropriate and 90% too bloody loud. There's a scene where the Queen's lady-in-waiting is discovering some letters secreted in the Queen's dresser that implicates her in a fabricated dalliance with Buckingham, but the accompanying music would have you believe a nuclear explosion was imminent. Same for when Milla starts flying (Won't say more). It's just so out of place it take you out of the flick.

Last niggle I can remember, Orlando Bloom as Buckingham. He doesn't really do much apart from 'be a smarmy bastard'. As we know, Orlando's an accomplished swordsman on film and can do action very well, and has displayed as much in 2 of the most popular franchise trilogies of the last 10 years. I don't actually remember him picking up a sword in this film at all. Might as well have phoned it in.

James Corden. Because it's James Corden being James Corden in a wig. Pointless.

That said, it's jolly good fun. the aforementioned swordplay is impeccable, the locations and set design is exquisite. The ladies' outfits were of particular note. (I belive the expression is 'bountiful'?) The mechanic of the 'air-ships' is a tricky one as they don't exactly fit in with the era, but suspension of disbelief and all that lets it slide, but only just.

7.5/10. I would give more, but honestly, the score killed it

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