The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers (2011); Arthos (Matthew MacFadyen), D'Artagnon (Logan Lerman), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans)

With work slowing down a bit again, I've managed to find some time to continue reading my book and relax in the evenings whilst watching a film. I bought The Three Musketeers a long time ago, so I decided to finally put it on. After all, a film about swashbuckling Frenchmen, what's not to like?

The story follows the three older Musketeers Athos, Aramis and Portos and their new, young member D'Artagnan in their quest to keep France out of trouble. As Cardinal Richelieu tries to undermine the young king Louis XIII by trying to frame his Queen Anne as an adultress, the Musketeers must retrieve the queen's expensive necklace from the Tower of London, placed there by Milady de Winter and now under the guard of the evil Lord Buckingham.

The film is filled with famous names; Matthew Macfadyen, Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Milla Jovovich, Mads Mikkelsen and Christoph Waltz, to name but a few. It's clear that these actors had fun with their parts and most definitely did not take their roles too seriously. Though to be honest, with a wig like Orlando Bloom's it is hard not to have fun with it.

The humor with which the actors play their parts is the same attitude a viewer must have when watching the film: this film was not meant to be taken seriously, it is just meant to be fun and entertaining. It's over the top, out there and filled with amusing fight scenes. The addition of the steampunk-like airships and weapons to the story, set in the seventeenth century, is an example of this and should be seen as another source of entertainment.

On IMDB, The Three Musketeers has only got a 5.7, which I think is a bit harsh. It's probably due to people having the wrong expectations of the film, because I really enjoyed watching it. And if you like a film that's over the top, doesn't take itself seriously, is a bit silly and doesn't ask for much brain activity (I mean this in a good way), then you will probably enjoy it too.

Ratings: 3.5 out 5 stars