Australia's Best Movie Magazine

Film reviews

Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

search the site

Enter search term:

newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter

Enter search term:

The Three Muskateers (Film)

by Jenny Casablancas | October 17, 2011 14:45 | Edited October 17, 2011 14:46

Special effects and 3-D fail to add anything new to this radical, and unsuccessful shake-up of the classic story.

Another week in Hollywood, another remake. This time it's Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, a story that's been done countless times before with various levels of success. Best known for his work in the sci-fi genre, Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) is the man at its helm, and as expected, this 3-D remake definitely gives the classic tale a shake-up. Unfortunately, the essence of the film - one for all, and all for one - seems to be diluted in its grab for the modern.

 

Based on a script by Alex Litvak (Predators) and veteran writer of period classics, Andrew Davies, the first half of the film actually adheres quite closely to Dumas' original narrative. We follow the spirited young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman), who travels to Paris with dreams of becoming a musketeer. While he initially ruffles the feathers of the three most famous musketeers - Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Aramis (Luke Evans) and Porthos (Ray Stevenson) - they take him under their wing as they face off against various villains looking to undermine the King. There's the devious Duke Of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom), the King's plotting right-hand man (Christoph Waltz), and Athos' double-crossing former lover, M'lady De Winter (Anderson's real life partner, Milla Jovovich). 

 

With every actor deliciously hamming it up, stretches of this make for a fun romp, and the lavish set pieces and stunning costume design are a visual treat. Anderson, however, never manages to pull off the "rock ‘n' roll meets period piece" tone that he's aiming for. Things that Anderson may claim are "irreverent" (CGI airships - really?) just seem silly and overblown. Considering how radical a revamp this is, it actually ends up with very little to say. And for a tale that's meant to feel timeless, audiences will be hard pressed remembering it beyond next week.