Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel ‘The Three Musketeers’ has been made into film multiple times, and many times the swashbuckling tale has made a dent into the consciousness of its viewers. This time, director Paul W.S. Anderson gives the Three Musketeers a steam-punk feel casting a slew of character actors. Add an opulent, detailed, period wardrobe (thanks to costumer Pierre-Yves Gayraud), fake English and French accents, and tons of firepower, this Three Musketeers version now in 3-D is not your typical action-fantasy-based-on-a-classic-novel fare.
On paper, the fusion of director Paul W.S. Anderson’s action genre machinations could pose for an interesting marriage with Alexandre Dumas’ fiction. But the execution of ‘The Three Musketeers seems to be more concerned with style, concept, and explosions than plot and exposition. Amongst all Three Musketeers adaptations, this is the film that gets the story right – in the first half. The Musketeers – Athos (Macfadyen), Aramis (Evans), and Porthos (Stevenson) look and sound their parts, even D’Artagnan (Lerman), who is usually cast too old in movie versions.
How they come together is organic and believable but when the movie starts to introduce plot, an unraveling of not the good kind happens. Working from a script by Andrew Davies and Andrew Davies, ‘The Three Musketeers’ succumbs to director Anderson’s cinematic go-to high jinks. Slo-mo swordfights, debauchery, camp, and bad-ass explosions – check, check, check, and check!
You cannot say that ‘The Three Musketeers’ didn’t try because well, it’s upped the ante for its predecessors – it is in 3-D after all. With an already capable cast, a big budget, and even seasoned veterans behind the scenes, the direction of ‘The Three Musketeers’ fell to the wayside and can be mistaken for another ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ sequel. Ironically, Orland Bloom is also in this one and somehow the comparison only makes it more obvious. But you cannot fault its costumes – that alone is worth seeing in 3-D.