The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan Review - The Classic Tale From French Literature Gets Yet Another Unexciting Adaptation

We all know "The Three Musketeers" from the 19th century, and here we have another adaptation in 2023 with Martin Bourboulon's French adventure drama, The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan. There have been numerous adaptations of this adventurous tale, and Douglas Fairbanks' silent-era classic remains the best of them all, followed by Gene Kelly's 1948 cinematic adaptation. I have seen some other versions too, but only these two have a place in my memory books. I enjoyed these two flicks despite some flaws that can be blamed on the original novel. Martin Bourboulon's adaptation is pretty dark and serious and hardly has any light moments; forget comedy and swashbuckling entertainment. However, it has still worked better on the storyline that has been going on for years without any rectification, when it actually needed some. It's a two-part film, and that's why it seems quite long and, at last, incomplete, but it does not become a headache.As we all know, The Three Musketeers is about D'Artagnan (François Civil), who travels to Paris to become one of the musketeers for the king. Riding high on arrogance, he challenges three men for a duel within a few hours of his Paris visit. He is unaware that three men are three musketeers: Athos (Vincent Cassel), Porthos (Pio Marma), and Aramis (Romain Duris). After the so-called duel, they become friends and are ready to serve their king. Many of the king's advisers and his younger brother urged him to fight the Protestants at La Rochelle. With the mysterious older woman, Milady (Eva Green), Richelieu (Eric Ruf) plots to undermine the queen. Athos is trapped in a murder conspiracy, and then the rest of the musketeers and D'Artagnan set off to save him. D'Artagnan must also find the jewels of the queen to prevent her affair from being exposed in front of the king. Will they be able to do it?Gene Kelly's The Three Musketeers was a funny film that also had a lot of swashbuckling adventures. That's why it is so entertaining and ageless. Here, the film starts off on a dark note and stays so for two hours. The black shades aren't really helping the story that has been known for years. With a bit more pacy screenplay and a few comic punches, this one would have been a lot of fun to watch. Nevertheless, it stays true to the source material. Milady's character is a big loophole in every cinematic adaptation of The Three Musketeers, but unexpectedly, this film somehow rectifies it with a modern touch. The first scene between D'Artagnan and Milady shows him as a gentleman who is not fascinated by Milady's skin show. It was easy for her to fool Buckingham, though. That's too typical, even for a story set in the 17th century. The screenplay does justice to the overall idea of dividing the film into two parts, but the climax tragedy still doesn't feel like a perfect fit.Performance-wise, I am happy with François Civil and others. Civil is not a quirky guy here—let's blame the writer for that, and he isn't quite handsome either—blame the make-up artist for fun's sake. Rest assured, he does a fine job. Lyna Khoudri is Constance, but too sexy for a maid from the first scene. The kissing scene between her and the protagonist is indeed stimulating. Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, and Pio Marmai have done their parts well as the three Musketeers, but nothing memorable. Eva Green really looks like a poisonous dame, and believe me, I had imagined her as Milady even before watching the film. A killer performer with a killer attitude—that's what she is. By the way, she jumped into the sea, but I didn't hear or see anything after that. Why? Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Eric Ruf, Vicky Krieps, and Louis Garrel are okay.I saw the English version, and the dubbing seemed okay, despite lip sync issues. Nicolas Bolduc's metography remains average throughout the film except for that long one-take action scene in the beginning. The shaky frames and long trip of the forest in 360° of a handy camera were not pleasant for the eyes, but smart enough for the brain. Since I didn't feel bored, I'd say Célia Lafitedupont's editing was on par. Production value was of good quality, as they successfully managed to recreate that era through costumes and big sets. Martin Bourboulon's direction is far from glitches and mistakes, but it's just that the tale has been consumed for a long time now. You can't make enough juice from it now—at least don't expect me to see anymore versions unless you are going to create some groundbreaking visuals. You can't create anything new with this story now, so I won't blame Martin, but somehow the film ended up being an average watch. I was surprised to see the ending and will look forward to the sequel later this year, but please make sure that it will have some enchanting elements.