One year after a mission to steal plans from Da Vincis secret vault ends in betrayal, the three musketeers are called back into service of France once again to thwart a sinister plan by the evil Cardinal. His scheme is to expose the young Queen as an adulterer, if successful it will throw France into chaos and ignite a war with Britain. Slowly leading into making the Cardinal the new King of France.
Now don't get me wrong, this film really shouldn't be very good. All signs point to bad, mainly down to the choice of director. Paul WS Anderson doesn't have a good track record with films and his efforts always seem to fall flat, since directing the first Resident Evil anyways. But I actually found myself enjoying this film quite a bit, and I think I know why: The three musketeers are perfectly cast and have such a charisma about themselves that you can't help but want to enjoy them in every scene they are in. The opening raid on Da Vincis vault cements theses characters and shows how strong their bonds of friendship actually are. Every time they are off screen you keep waiting for them to show up again as they are a joy to watch.
Its a shame then that after that first 30 minutes, the three muskerterrs themselves are never really shown as the main characters. This role falls to the young Dartanian, the teenage son of an ex musketeer, who has travelled to Paris to become a musketeer, just like his dad. His timing isn't very good though as the Cardinals guards have seemed to replace the musketeers leaving the streets of Paris a very cruel place to be. The three musketeers take Dartanian under their wing and lead him into the life he has always wanted. After a while Dartanian actually becomes a more likable character, a bit removed from his introduction as a cocky, immature boy who believes himself to be better than everyone else. Which is actually what the character is in the books, someone who needs to learn the ways of the World to become a true hero and a good man. The film really should have been called the four musketeers as at least then we wouldn't keep expecting more from the three supposed main characters every time they are off screen.
The rest of the cast are a bit hit and miss. The young king and queen are entertaining to watch when they are together, but the king is pompous and not funny when on his own. His obsession with fashion is also annoying, but then again, I guess the King has to live up to his status. Milady and Buckingham initailly make good villains who revel in their evil ways, but sadly Jovovichs Milady just ends up looking hot (we get it Paul, your wife is fit) and double crossing everyone in sight and Blooms Buckingham falls by the wayside, eventually leading up to just being sequel bait. Even the showdown in the Tower of London falls flat and feels suprisingly un exciting. The strongest of the bad guys is cardinal richelieu, who seems to relish all of his evil plans and shows how good of a manipulator he can be, patting himself on the back as he goes. Its just a shame that for all his scheming he is once again, like Buckingham, there to make way for a bigger role in the sequel (if there ever is one). The main foil to the good guys, well mostly Dartainan, comes in the form of the Cardinals agent Rochefort. He only really gets to do anything in the last 30 minutes though, so his overall menace is diluted somewhat. The final action scenes between him and the musketeers on their air ships are exciting and fun, as is his sword fight with Dartanian, which is well done and fast paced. Actaully all of the fight scenes in the film are very good, especially the battle between the musketeers and the cardinals guards, which showcases each characters fighting styles and prowess. And the less said about James Cordens "comedy relief" the better. Imagine a poor mans impression of Ricky Gervais in Stardust and you're there. Its completely cringe worthy and to top it all off, hes one of the "main" characters in the second half of the film, so theres no getting away from him!
The 3D is especially well done with all of the scenes and backgrounds looking stunning. Even in the dialogue scenes, there is a surprising depth of field which lends itself superbly to the 3D experience. I will say this for Anderson he knows how to film in 3D. He also knows how to showcase great fight scene and entertaining set pieces.
For all its worth, the three musketeers is a fun, action packed experience which just gets a bit bogged down with too many characters, a plot that could've have ended 30 minutes early (and has a massive plot hole which I wont put on here as I don't want to ruin the film) and too much sequel baiting. Although, I do want a sequel, if only just to experience more fun scenes with the main musketeers. Give me a film thats a longer version of the first 30 minutes of this one and I will be a very happy man.
3 out of 5
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