As you can guess from the title of the film, this is another adaptation of the famous novel by Dumas. And their number has long exceeded a hundred in the entire previous history of cinema (according to Wikipedia, about 150). In 2023 alone, two of them have already been released: the second of them is English, with a black D’Artagnan (well, what else?).
“The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan” is the fourth full-length feature film by the French director Martina Bourbulona with French cinema stars (whose existence hardly anyone knows): the leading role is played by a rising star Francois Civil, and the three musketeers are played by veterans Vincent Cassel (Athos), Romain Duris и Pio Marmay. She also starred in the role of Milady de Winter Eva Green и Louis Garrel as the young King Louis XIII.
PLOT
D'Artagnan arrives in Paris trying to find his attackers after being left for dead, leading him into a real war in which the future of France is at stake. He teams up with Athos, Porthos and Aramis - the king's three musketeers.
REVIEW
In the context of comparison with other film adaptations, I won’t say much, since I’ve only seen two, and I haven’t read Dumas’ novel (a shame, I agree), so I’ll just share my impression of the film.
As far as I understand, this film adaptation did not rely on the original novel with great trepidation and respect and was modernized in some places, but the basic structure remained the same: the same Gascon who came to Paris on a recommendation to become a musketeer, the same acquaintance with the musketeers and subsequent involvement in political intrigues with royal pendants, and the same romance with Canstancia (thanks, not with some black Constantine). But, of course, any viewer will notice new storylines, but I won’t spoil it.
Despite the age rating of 12+, I think this adaptation can be called more adult and the rating is clearly underestimated. In this version you will no longer see any theatricality, songs, romance, bright colors, blue and red cloaks of musketeers and guardsmen, but in return you will see many unshaven and unwashed faces, and in some places snouts, a slightly gothic and dirty France, rather gloomy and dark the general color scheme of the film, murders, corpses, and... Partos - bisexual... There is no special emphasis on the last point in the cinema, but still, they have not stooped to this level before.
I can’t say that I watched the film in one go; on the contrary, I was bored in places, because any adaptation of classic novels always runs the risk of running into high expectations and inevitable comparisons with successful film adaptations. And I’m not a fan of young directors with a “new take” on the classics. And Bourbulon’s version looks good only against the background of other film adaptations with all sorts of black D’Artagnans. And this version will definitely not become a cult.
VISUALS
There are no complaints about the visuals: locations, scenery, costumes, filming - everything is good, except that, purely subjectively, I didn’t really like the color palette of the film. For me "Three Musketeers" is associated with a more colorful visual range, but here it is gloomy, dark and monotonous, with natural lighting. Yes, this was the authors’ idea, to show history in exactly this light, but it turned out to be some kind of dense Middle Ages, and not the 17th century. The musketeers are too unkempt compared to the way we are used to seeing them - in clean clothes, well-shaven and more intelligent and intelligent. Here the musketeers are more reminiscent of either robbers or pirates. Although purely visual, the actors were chosen more or less normally. But it's especially fun to watch Vincent Cassel, who here involuntarily cosplays Mikhail Boyarsky, if he played a musketeer 40 years later. This is such a nice bonus for the Russian audience. Who would have thought that Kassel in this image would become such a copy, perhaps a more melancholy version. But this is because he plays here, after all, Athos, and not D’Artagnan.
ACTION
The action in the film is the main reason why this review is being written in the first place. Of course, none of the film adaptations of the Musketeers have staged the action so well - almost all the battles are filmed in long, thoughtful shots. The style is very reminiscent of scenes from Survivor with DiCaprio. At least for their sake, the film is definitely worth watching. And it is for this reason that the film should definitely be among the year-end nominees for Fight Films Info.
SUMMARY
Judging by the many enthusiastic responses to the film, the conclusion suggests itself - most people really enjoyed the film. Mainly for foreign viewers. Russians reacted more coolly to the new adaptation, since for the most part they still grew up with the masterpiece of the Soviet period, and this already means that comparisons will be inevitable and not in favor of the French.
I would like to forget about the Soviet adaptation while watching the film and evaluate it impartially, but I couldn’t. “The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan” 2023 wins over the film adaptation of the USSR only on the technical component for obvious reasons. Otherwise, everything is mediocre and the film is more about events than characters. In the Soviet version, there was a balance in all aspects. No comparison with the Soviet version “D'Artagnan” it doesn’t work, where absolutely everything was there: respect for the original, interesting relationships between the characters, good dialogues, humor, an excellent cast, and the development of absolutely all the characters, not to mention the brilliant soundtrack.
In the new film adaptation, the relationships between the characters do not cause much interest; everything is very simplified and conventional. And in terms of the level of simplification, the age rating is definitely 12+. There's an extra scene inserted during the credits, don't miss it.
I don’t regret watching it, but I can’t say that I liked the film, but it’s appropriate to talk about one of the best action films in 2023, although the genre is still more of a historical/political detective story. The film is announced as a duology and a sequel is already expected at the end of 2023 and will be called: “The Three Musketeers: Milady”.
My rating: 6/10
Yuri Dudin
Especially for fight-films.info
Complete crap, not a movie. The previous two are much better.
Damn, that looks pretty good. I'll have to take note. Thanks.
I don't know why they do this... Even in their younger years, films like this were perceived...
Shannon Lanier. The answer to Nevsky was thoughtfully added at the end of the text.)