REVIEW: ‘Musketeers’ falls short
I guess its time for another Three Musketeers movie. It’s been almost 20 years since the last and more than 60 years since the 1948 original. How many times do we have to remake a movie until we are satisfied? What happened to originality? This movie may be fun, adventurous and clever, but it’s still not the best.
The story is based around D’Artagnan, a rash young man who seeks to be a Musketeer. His cocky personality and expert fencing skills get him into trouble. Along his journey he unintentionally runs into the three legendary Musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis, becoming part of a plan to defeat a double agent, stop a war and, of course, fall in love. After the betrayal of an old love and a new-found young love, Europe is saved when the Three Musketeers become the heroic four.
The 2011 remake of “The Three Musketeers” was aesthetically pleasing, but when it comes to the authenticity of the 1993 version, it just didn’t cut it. I am not sure what the director’s intentions were. Maybe Paul W. S. Anderson wanted to remake the classic that would appeal to young audiences. It is a family-friendly film, with something for everyone, staying true to the classic in that sense.
The one thing this film has to offer above the rest is the handsome foursome. You may question who is better looking than Gene Kelly in 1948 or even Chris O’Donnell (Robin from “Batman and Robin”) in the 1993 musketeer hit, but this year D’Artagnan was played by upcoming actor Logan Lerman. The only other movie I have seen of his is “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”
Lerman is already a cut above his last character. I think the long hair gave him an extra edge. He is proving to be a talented young actor. His sword fighting skills looked legitimate, and he pulled off his cocky character cunningly.
Matthew MacFadyen plays Athos, the broken-hearted and excellently skilled leader of the group. MacFadyen is a fine actor, but unfortunately I did not see enough of him in this movie.
That also goes for Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans). Remember when Charlie Sheen didn’t have tiger’s blood and wasn’t so concerned with winning? Remember when he played Aramis in 1993? I miss that.
Porthos has always been portrayed as the ladies’ man and the silly-but-strong one of the group. I hardly got to see that side of him. I also did not get to see more backstory of Aramis and how he used to be a priest. The last musketeer movie showed him being saved by a cross he wears on his neck. Everyone thought he was dead. There was no sense of that this time around.
I guess D’Artagnan is just too good looking to move from camera view. At least, that is what it felt like.
The king, played by Freddie Fox, was incredible. He portrayed the naive King Louise the XIII of France well. He dressed like a character from “Pirates of Penzance,” with ridiculously colorful outfits. It was in style and who better to set the trend than Orlando Bloom and his character Duke of Buckingham.
Usually you see Orlando as the protagonist cutie, who falls in love with the damsel in distress and women swoon over his devilish good looks.
However, in “The Three Musketeers” he was the antagonist, at least one of them, and got to step out of his usual type-casted roles and act weird, while looking like a Penzance pirate — even more over done.
In this case, over done is not a bad thing. He was remarkable and surprisingly impressive with this unique role that was definitely more interesting than the other three Dukes of Buckingham, who were much more dark and serious in the originals. This was interesting but almost too playful as a whole. I liked the more subtle playfulness the originals had to offer.
“TheThree Musketeers” was entertaining and fun. It gave a refreshing new perspective on the classic story. So why do I like the Charlie Sheen ‘90s version better? It’s all a matter of taste. The original has a special place in my heart that I cannot deny. But you will just have to see for yourself.
– Anike Pullens is a senior majoring in public relations and minoring in theater and speech. Her reviews run every other Friday. She enjoys movies any day of the week, of any genre. She can be contacted at anike.pullens@aggiemail.usu.edu