The Three Musketeers (2011) * * * * *
Starring: Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich
Bob & I rarely go to movies on opening weekend, but we made an exception on Saturday, as we hadn't seen any movies in a few weeks and I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms. So we hopped over to the theater to see The Three Musketeers.
Now, I've read a lot of negative reviews of this movie over the last few weeks, complaining that the dialogue and bad writing disgrace the memory of Dumas, and how the release of this movie signals the end of western civilization. (OK, I'm exaggerating - I do that from time to time - but not by much!). Nonetheless I went into the theater with high expectations. The previews had all been incredible, Milla Jovovich is awesome, and it's The Three Musketeers for crying out loud. It had no choice but to be wonderful!
My high expectations were blown out of the water!
I don't want to give anything away, so I'm not going to talk much about the plot. The things that were awesome though?
Milla Jovovich as Milady De Winter, a double-agent secret spy with fabulous hats and gowns and mad skills at Breaking & Entering! Awesome!! (Minor Spoiler - The scene where she breaks into the Queen's Chamber to steal "Something" from the secret vault was so freaking cool I couldn't even contain my excitement).
Orlando Bloom as the Duke of Buckingham. He totally stole every scene he was in!
Various Musketeers fighting in slow-motion against the Cardinal's soldiers? Amazing!!
The Airships? Oh. My. Gosh. I can't even tell you how awesome!
Dueling on top of the Cathedral? Amazing, with Awesome Sauce on top!
Realizing that a certain someone has more of a brain than people give them credit for? Oh so very cool!!
Are you sensing the theme here? This movie rocked hard, and it was amazingly awesome, and I loved it and I want to go see it again already so who wants to go with me ohmygodIcan'twaitletsgorightnow!!!
The Three Musketeers is now my favorite movie of 2011, knocking Rise of the Planet of the Apes into the #2 spot. It's fun, exciting, and adventurously swashbuckling. It is not great literature, though, which I think might be what those other negative reviewers might have been looking for. This isn't a faithful representation of the book and it isn't meant to be. It's got some great steampunk elements that modernize it and make it into a great story apart from the original novel, and I think that's OK. Very, very OK, in fact. A lot!
All right - I'll quit rambling now. The Three Musketeers gets 5 stars from me, and Bob said he really enjoyed it. That's pretty high praise right there, folks.
But what's next, you ask? Well I'll tell you! Here's what I'm still looking forward to seeing:
In Time - (This looks A-Frickin'-Mazing! Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Matt Bomer, Alex Pettyfer, Cillian Murphy, & Johnny Galecki)
Anonymous (Political thriller theorizing that Shakespeare didn't exist. Vanessa Redgrave & David Thewlis).
Immortals (Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto - Looks awesome!)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Jude Law, Robert Downey Jr. Hooray - The boys are back!!)
Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (I am such a sucker for this theme song!)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Daniel Craig and, oh who cares? It's Daniel Craig! Hopefully this will rock!)
Did you see The Three Musketeers Yet? What did you think? Leave a comment below, or a link to your review of the movie - I'd love to hear what you thought!
Did you see The Three Musketeers Yet? What did you think? Leave a comment below, or a link to your review of the movie - I'd love to hear what you thought!
We went to see it in 3D at the weekend.
ReplyDeleteA very entertaining version of one of my favourite classic tales. Even if it doesn’t stick rigidly to the original plot, it’s faithful to the spirit of the novel and I think Dumas would certainly approve of this steampunk vision of his swashbuckling action adventure. Some of the humour of the novel has been retained (could have done with just a touch more, but there was enough to make the corner of my mouth turn up on several occasions, which is no mean feat!) and the action sequences are stunning. Jovovich is never better than when she’s jumping off high buildings in scanty costume (Fifth Element, anyone?) and it’s a trick that wasn’t missed here.
I was especially pleased with the performances of their Royal French Majesties – both acquitted themselves admirably despite the young King being an unknown to me, and the Queen being a lass I last saw in one of the St. Trinians’ remakes (both of which I took perverse pleasure in watching!). I’m not a fan of Orlando Bloom, but he was perfectly cast as the elegantly foppish, extravagantly stylish and deviant Buckingham – he really seemed to revel in the role. Aramis was a dead ringer for Heath Ledger and I feel that if he’d been alive, the role would have been his – let’s face it, we know he can handle a sword (A Knight’s Tale). I love Ray Stevenson in everything I’ve seen him in and even Boring Macfadyan was more than tolerable as Athos – his cool, offhand manner was perfect for the world-weary man betrayed in love.
I give it a rating of 7.5 – if not a passable 8 – for the sheer balls of this version. It’s big and bold and I loved it. It’s well worthy of its place in the ranks of Musketeer movies. I’m pleased to say this film hasn’t detracted from a claim I made a little while ago – that I’ve never been disappointed by a Musketeers movie, and I’ve seen a fair few!
Kell.
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PS I'm desperately looking forward to all the other movies you mentioned too. :)
ReplyDeleteKell.
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@diaryofadomesticgoddess Hi Kell! Thanks for stopping in and commenting - and well said! I'm glad you liked it! Hopefully the film will do well enough in the coming weeks for it to earn the sequel that could so easily follow! Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteOh, how much would I LOVE that? It was exactly what went through my head at the end! :)
ReplyDeleteKell.
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