This sequel to “The Three Musketeers - D’Artagnan” is very disappointing! First of all, it departs massively from the book “The Three Musketeers” and the role of Milady in the story. Why tamper with a classic? The musketeers themselves hardly spend any time together, it’s mostly D’Artagnan trying to discover what happened to his Constance. It’s difficult to follow who’s against who.
I couldn’t get the English version; my dvd just had French with subtitles. This was not advertised. I should have waited for this film to appear on the regular tv channels!
This second in what is clearly to be a trilogy was shot back to back with the first film. It's a visually lovely, action packed sequel with a quite complicated plot and brings Eva Green's character, the sultry, sexy femme fatale Milady de Winter to the centre of the story. Being the devious agent of Cardinal Richelieu (Eric Ruf) she is involved in a conspiracy to cause war between France and England and there's an assassination plot against the King with the mastermind behind it being a neat plot twist and not the obvious. There's plenty of swordplay and our intrepid four Musketeers are on hand to save the day especially d'Artagnan (François Civill) who is out to rescue his lover from Milady's evil clutches. This is an entertaining addition to the many adaptations of this great story with a solid recreation of 17th century France. It's all very gonzo and a little daft but fun all the same.
After the rollicking Part 1 of this French blockbuster, Part 2 is a disappointing sequel. For a start, unless you remember everything from Part 1, it’s hard to get a grip of. The action is also disappointing. Apart from a couple of hand-to-hand fights (not a patch on the Part 1 fights), Part 2 concentrates mostly on political intrigue. Protestants v Catholics, French v English… it’s hard to know or care who’s on which side. The musketeers themselves barely get any plot interest apart from their political affiliations, while Eve Green as Milady sems to have 9 lives. The ending leaves room for a Part 3, so let’s hope that has as much derring-do as Part 1.