The Three Musketeers (2025)

[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.

[Greg]

It's all about Eva Green at this point.

This is the French version of The Three Musketeers. The first chapter is D'Artagnan. The second chapter is M'Lady. The first part I was really familiar with. I kept flashing back and forth between this version and the beloved version from the 1970s. This version is much grittier and not played for laughs as much. But a lot of the same beats are there. The sword fighting is really good, shot with long takes. The beauty of being in France is the use of all the French castles. Really kept hoping for D'Artagnan to comb his hair out of his eyes. There is more backstory for Madam Dewinter. I really enjoyed the portrayal of the French King in this version. And there were some different scenes I don't remember.

I'm about ten minutes away from finishing the second chapter which all seems completely new to me.

[Drunk Monk]

As always, I'm about a year ahead of you.

https://www.brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomFo...p?tid=8009

Next year, you'll realize what a great film K-Pop Demon Hunters is...

[Greg]

Day late. Dollar short.

I thought you had posted but DOOMGOOGLE™ said get lost, nothing to see here. And yet we are surprisingly simpatico in our reviews.

[Drunk Monk]

And yet we are surprisingly simpatico in our reviews.

Yeah, that's odd. WTH? 

Maybe PPFY will hate it. That would be funny.

Needs merge. MERGE!

SPOILER ALERT Eva's fire sword fight in part 2 is fire. END SPOILER

[Greg]

Needs merge. MERGE!

I totally merged. What are you looking at?

SPOILER ALERT (Not Really) I turned it off just as D'Artagnan ran into that building END SPOILER

[Drunk Monk]

Needs merge. MERGE!

I totally merged. What are you looking at?

SPOILER ALERT (Not Really) I turned it off just as D'Artagnan ran into that building END SPOILER

Sneaky