307. The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan (Les Trois Mousquetaires : D'Artagnan); movie review

 

THE THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN (LES TROIS MOUSQUETAIRES : D'ARTAGNAN)

Cert 12A

121 mins

BBFC advice: Contains brief strong injury detail, violence

What would the swashbuckling, impish Gene Kelly make of this?

Kelly's D'Artagnan is the most recognised Hollywood incarnation of Alexandre Dumas's Three Musketeers.

But Martin Bourboulon's adaptation is far grittier and much more in keeping with movies in the 2020s.

This is the story how the French would like it to be told - with less clean-cut heroes than Kelly's.

This version stars François Civil as the title character, who is shot and buried in the movie's opening minutes.

Thankfully, he revives himself and sets about joining the fabled Musketeers, the personal guards of King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel).

As with previous films, D'Artagnan's enthusiasm gets the better of him when he bumps into Athos (Vincent Cassel), Porthos (Pio Marmaï) and Aramis (Romain Duris).

Thus, he has duels to the death arranged with all three of them but brings them onside in a fight with the guards of the scheming Cardinal Richelieu (Éric Ruf).

This is arguably the grittiest version of the famous story - the streets of Paris are more realistically muddy, and the killings and acts of betrayal are probably more in sync with the 17th century. Meanwhile, Porthos is very promiscuous with either sex.

But there are similar themes - France is on the cusp of war with England, the king is a bit of a ditherer, and his wife (Vicky Krieps) is besotted with the Duke of Buckingham (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd).

Meanwhile, Richelieu's agent (Eva Green) tries to undermine the crown in his favour.

It all makes for an exciting new take on an old story. A pity that it leads to an unnecessary sequel.

Reasons to watch: Grittier home-grown take on the famous tale

Reasons to avoid: We know the basic story already

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? The Three Musketeers was first published in the French newspaper Le Siècle in 1844, with new chapters released at regular intervals. 

The final word. Martin Bourboulon: "These codes of adventure films are more often associated with Anglo-Saxon productions. We wanted to show that in France, we can reclaim the great stories of our heritage and offer films of equal magnitude with significant production value, just like American productions could do." Goggler

Lokasi: Beeston, Nottingham NG9, UK

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