The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan

[Drunk Monk]

Here it is - the mysterious French made adaptation with Vincent Cassel & Eva Green. 

This may be my next favorite adaptation after Richard Lester’s. That one still wins me over, mostly for the humor, the cast, the locations and the sword fights. I’d have to see Gene Kelly’s version again to see if it beats this new one. 

This stays fairly true to the original story (at least what I can remember of it - I read it like 45 years ago). There are some liberties taken, like Porthos is bi for no particular reason at all. But overall it attempts to be loyal to the source.

It’s a gritty take on the time, shot on many historic locations, including the Louvre and one of my happiest places on earth, Les Invalides, which houses one of the finest arms and armor museums in Europe. Those locations are spectacular and the costuming is extravagant for the royals, as they should be. The film looks great.

Cassel is solid as Athos. He has the right gravitas. Green is wickedly good as Milady. She totally nails that most devious villainess. The other actors I don’t know but they were all well cast. Richelieu looks a bit like Heston, which was bugging me a bit. D’Artagnan sounds much better when said in French. 

Where this totally won me over were the sword fights. Extremely well done. Lots of oner sequences of incredible complexity and insanely dynamic camerawork. The fights are swirling frantic melees with the cinematography darting in and out and through the fighters, almost jiggly cam but you can see the action amazingly well, despite its rollercoaster filming. I truly enjoyed the way the sword fights were put together. The sword fights were wild. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Absolutely D00M recommended. This is a top notch addition to the musketeer film family. Very well done. 

Seen on hoopla.

[Drunk Monk]

The Three Musketeers: Part 2 Milady

This sequel picks up right where part 1 left off. It takes more liberties with the book, like the introduction of a black musketeer, but it still feels very loyal to the source. Maybe it's the French.

Almost everything I said about part 1 holds true. Cassel nails Athos. And dare I say it? Green steals Dunaway's crown as Milady. Maybe it's the French. No, it's definitely the sword fight. She delivers an amazing sword fight - a solid one-er in a flaming building that had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I think that's a liberty from the book but I can't remember for sure and if it is, it's a total improvement. 

There's some big shots in this but not gratuitous, just spliced in to remind us of the scope of the film. Lots of great locations, castles, regal buildings, masted ships. There's a great castle siege. Constance's death (we all know the tale so that's not a spoiler) is kind of dumb because she has a last line after being choked out and that's not the way choking out works but we'll allow. 

Mostly, this version delivers on the swordplay, and y'all know I don't say that lightly. The action sequences are terrific, complex and intricate, wildly shot with a frantic camera but not so jiggly that the action can't be followed easily, moving through complicated angles and environments, peppered with solid stunts. When the fights broke out, I watched most of them twice because they were so good. 

Strong D00M recommendation - see them in order though. 

Seen on Hoopla.