Three Musketeers (2011)

You're reckless,arrogant and impetuous. You'll probably be dead by sundown but I like you - one of the Musketeers to D'Artagnan

People despise the films of Paul WS Anderson. If his name is on it people will be looking to flush the films down the toilet. I can't count myself as one of those people. To be certain he has real problems but he has made some pretty good action films, and say what you will his action sequences are frequently amazing.

I freely admit that I was blown away by the trailers for this film when I saw them. It was clear from the Resident Evil style action and the airships that this wasn't going to be a faithful  adaption of the Dumas tale. I was fine with that because it looked so good.

While the basic plot has D'Artagnan arriving in Paris in order to become a musketeer and falling in with the title characters, it's been spiced up with secret weapons (airships) and more blatant attempts by Buckingham and Richelieu to take over France. It's so altered that purists should run for the hills.

On the other hand action film lovers really should see this. The action and the witty dialog are the reason this film should be seen. The set pieces, from the always wonderful fight of the musketeers and D'Artagnan with the Cardinal's guards to the final battle between sky ships this movie rocks. Shot with 3D in mind the action sequences are given a depth that many other films don't have. Things are happening all along the visual plane. I like that other than an odd stray object, nothing gives this away as being a 3D film.

To be certain the film suffers from a slow second half hour thanks to excessive talk, but by the time things amp back up after the the hour mark this film is firing on all cylinders.

Is it the best version of the film? Hell no, but it is one of the most action packed. Sadly I don't think the film did well enough to warrant the promised sequel. I say sadly because it promised to start off with a big bang...

Worth tracking down.