Starring:
Justin Chambers, Pierre Castaldi, Tim Roth, Catherine
Deneuve, Jan Gregor Kremp,
Nick Moran, Stephen Rea, Steven Spiers, Mena Suvari
Based on the novel "Les trois mousquetaires"
by Alexander Dumas
Written By: Gene Quintano
Directed By: Peter Hyams
View the trailer: Quicktime
(Various)
Official website: The-Musketeer.com
|
 |
The Musketeer
is an old-fashioned re-telling of the classic story of 17th
century political intrigue and adventure, combined with a
few Matrix and
Crouching Tiger inspired fight sequences. The plot centers
on the young and vengeful D'Artagnan and his quest to become
one of the famous royal guards to King Louis XIV of France.
Justin Chambers plays D'Artagnan, who must prove his worth,
avenge his past and help bring the Musketeers back from a
Church imposed suspension of duties. Stephen Rea plays Cardinal
Richelieu, who, along with his overly ambitious 'associate',
Febre, played by Tim Roth, is scheming to gain control of
France and bring an end to the King and his Musketeers once
and for all.
You may have read the words 'old-fashioned' above to mean
'corny', and, in this case, you would be right. This film
lacks the charm and wit of the Michael York series of Musketeer
films and the flashy style of the 1993 Disney remake, so what,
you may ask, does The Musketeer have to offer? In a nutshell,
The Musketeer offers wooden acting, combined with an embarassingly
uninspired screenplay, that results in snickers from the audience
during all the wrong moments. However, that snickering serves
it's purpose, saving the audience from complete and utter
boredom on more than one occassion.
On the good side, or the bad side as the case may be, The
Musketeer also offers Tim Roth as the villianous Febre. In
contrast to the film's other performances, Roth portrays Febre
with an admirably gleeful wickedness, creating the only interesting
character in the entire movie. Director Peter Hyam may have
allowed Roth to run with this role, or Roth may have simply
refused to listen to his direction. Either way, the correct
choice was made. Not to give anything away, but, when considering
the blandness of the others in this story, I can almost sympathize
with Febre's evil motives. Poor guy, that Febre, so misunderstood!
On the technical side, or lack thereof as the case may be,
The Musketeer offers some great swordplay sequences that are
marred by bad lighting, choppy editing and visible wires.
Perhaps I've missed something, but when did musketeers learn
to fly? In addition, there is a rousing cross-country carriage
chase, which, based on the everchanging shadows and sky, must
have been filmed over a period of three or four days. The
carriage chase sequence also features some dandy 17th century
jet-contrails in the background, so be sure to add them to
your 'movie goofs' database. Maybe the contrails were created
by very high flying musketeers, but I doubt it.
The Musketeer isn't entirely bad, but it isn't that good either.
The overall look of the costumes and settings is impressive,
and the fights are interesting, if not very believable. So,
if you're looking for swashbuckling adventure, go see
The Musketeer, then, by all means, continue your search!
2 out of
5
AJ
Vestal - AJ's Movie Reviews
|
