There have been loads of adaptations of Alexandre Dumas’ famous book over the years but the best version up to now was the pair of movies directed by Richard Lester that were released 50 years ago. Since then all the TV and film adaptations have been mediocre at best. This year, a lavish pair of movies from director Martin Bourboulon have hit our screens.
The cast is a who’s who of French cinema with Francois Civil as D’Artagnan, Vincent Cassel as Athos, Romain Duris as Aramis and Pio Marmai as Porthos. Additionally Vicky Krieps plays the Queen and Eva Green the alluring but dastardly Milady.
In the same way as Lester did, Bourboulon and writers Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière have split the story into two parts.
The first was shown at the cinema earlier in the year and is now available to rent at home or seen for free if you are a Sky Movies subscriber. The second part is now showing on the big screen.
The story starts with The Three Musketeers Part 1: D’Artagnan. The young D’Artagnan tries to save a young woman from kidnappers but is attacked and left for dead. He travels to Paris to find the men who injured him and becomes involved with three of the King’s musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis. The story is familiar, even though there are significant deviations from the book.
It is immediately apparent though, that this is a much grittier telling. Whilst there is some traditional sword fighting, there is also a lot of more realistic fighting. The first action scene, for example, is a messy, desperate, brawl in the mud. From then on, the story rattles along, incorporating all the necessary political intrigue as well as a fair amount of action. Of the cast, it is Green who stands out in her devious role. The film ends on a cliff-hanger, setting up part 2.
The second part, with The Three Musketeers Part 2: Milady, duly starts immediately where the first part finished and involves D’Artagnan searching for his missing girlfriend, Constance. He has his hands full as he is also involved in defending the King against a protestant uprising as well as uncovering a conspiracy. This is very much in the spirit of the first film, though there are a couple of sub plots that slow things down.
Green is again excellent and the twists and turns keep coming.
Ratings out of 10:
Part 1: 7.5
Part 2: 7