With Jim Sabatini

The Three Musketeers

Rated: PG-13  For violence.
Reviewed by: Chris
Release date: October 21, 2011	Released by: Summit

      Alaxandre  Dumas' 1844 classic has been filmed umpteen times, but its never had Director Paul W.S. Anderson's (Death Race and The Resident Evil films) lighthearted take on it before.
 
       The opening of the film shows the Musketeers on a mission that ends badly.   Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans) find themselves unemployed a year later because of "budget cuts".  Other than a quick job every once in a while, they hang around drinking or picking out new clothes.   Just when we thought we'd never see them pick up their swords again, along comes young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman - who is terribly miscast.   He lacks the humor and personality for the part). 
 
       The lad challenges anyone who slights him or his run-down horse, to a duel, and that's just on his first day in town.   His eagerness for fighting spurs the Musketeers to join in and they team up against the conniving Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), the evil Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom, with a ridiculous sky-high hairdo) and Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich), who uses her beauty to play one against the other.   She doesn't care who she double crosses to get her way.
 
        The storyline involves the theft of the Royal diamond necklace. The bad guys hope that it will lead to a full-on war and is silly.   The sword fights are plentiful and somewhat fun, however the 3-D format adds little to the action.  But, the oddest  thing to show up is an invention called the "war machine".  Its a cross between a dirigible and a pirate ship that lumbers across the sky with cannons at the ready.    When two of these things begin chasing and shooting at one another, its hard to explain.
 
       Young boys might like the swashbuckling aspect of this film, but for everyone else, its a bit of a stretch.