There’s plenty to enjoy in this sumptuous, old-school adaptation of Dumas’ 1844 novel.
That said, Dumas purists might get cranky, because scripters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patelliére have taken serious liberties with the author’s book.
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| The musketeers — from left, Athos (Vincent Cassel), Aramis (Romain Duris) and Porthos (Pio Marmaï) — are amused to discover that brash young D'Artagnan (François Civil, back to camera) has arranged to duel all three of them ... at hourly intervals. |
Director Martin Bourboulon and his writers mimicked that two-part template with their new Gallic adaptation; both halves debuted in France last year, and “Part 1” just hit video-on-demand in the States, with (I hope) the conclusion following soon.
The year is 1627, and France is a bitterly divided country. King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel) and his wife, Anne of Austria (Vicky Krieps), have yet to produce an heir, placing the monarchy in peril. Protestant separatists, supported by England, wish to establish their own state; this enrages the king’s Catholic advisors.
Louis is cautious, though, not wanting to provoke a civil war ... but his younger brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans (Julien Frison), believes they should attack the Protestant rebels at their stronghold in La Rochelle.
Waiting in the wings: Cardinal Richelieu (Èric Ruf), playing a nefarious long game with the expectation of seizing power himself. To that end, he has enlisted the aid of the villainous Milady de Winter (Eva Green, sublimely evil), to set a crafty plan in motion.
All of this is backdrop, as young D’Artagnan (François Civil) leaves his Gascony homeland in order to join the ranks of the King’s Musketeers in Paris. While en route, D’Artagnan unwittingly stumbles on an attempt by ruffians to kidnap a young noblewoman, Isabelle de Valcour (Charlotte Ranson). Alas, the kidnappers succeed, and D’Artagnan’s attempt at chivalry nearly proves fatal.
Standing nearby, Milady smiles in satisfaction.
Longtime fans will recognize what comes next. D’Artagnan arrives in Paris, garners an encouraging audience with Captain de Tréville (Marc Barbé), and then manages to insult — in quick succession — musketeers Athos (Vincent Cassel), Porthos (Pio Marmaï) and Aramis (Romain Duris). They demand satisfaction via duels in the nearby woods; D’Artagnan rashly books them at hourly intervals ... much to their amusement, when all three arrive together.
But Richelieu has outlawed dueling, and a sizeable regiment of his guards arrive, with the intention of arresting the quartet. What follows is the first of the film’s energetically choreographed, hell-for-leather skirmishes; it’s exhilarating, messy and rather brutal, which follows Bourboulon’s insistence on a period-accurate dark and gritty environment. (Clearly, these guys don’t bathe very often.)
Another nice touch: Civil’s D’Artagnan goes all-in during this fight, and — toward the end — looks and moves like a man at the verge of total exhaustion.
Having proved his mettle, D’Artagnan and his new friends manage to avoid being arrested (which seems a stretch, given the damage they wreak on the Cardinal’s guards). D’Artagnan finds lodgings at a place managed by Constance Bonacieux (Lyna Khoudri), with whom he’s immediately smitten. He doesn’t yet realize that she also works for Anne, often acting as a go-between for the queen’s secret affair with the English Duke of Buckingham (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd).
Richelieu learns of this ill-advised relationship; once again, long-time fans will know what he and Milady plan next, which becomes the story’s primary storyline.
But before that’s set in motion, Delaporte and de La Patelliére introduce a plot wrinkle that’ll certainly raise eyebrows ... and confound expectations, in terms of how things subsequently will transpire.
(I’m not saying it’s a bad twist, merely unexpected. It dovetails credibly with what has gone down thus far, and certainly is much more reasonable than the steampunk touches in 2011’s misfired “adaptation” of Dumas’ book.)
Civil’s D’Artagnan is appropriately reckless, fearless and earnest; the actor also gives him a charming innocence, particularly during the playfully flirty banter he exchanges with Constance. Khoudri makes this young woman intelligent, brave and refreshingly feisty (a welcome change from the way Raquel Welch played the character as a clumsy doofus, in Lester’s two films).
Green steals the show, as the vile and crafty Milady; the actress literally oozes malevolence (as she has done many times before, in films such as 300: Rise of an Empire and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For). Green’s sinister smile and mocking demeanor are a chilling combination.
Aramis has the most troubled back-story, and Cassel injects just the right amount of world-weariness. We sense that he greets each new day with resignation, and that he desperately needs some sort of cause, or challenge, to reawaken his nobler spirit.
Porthos is the trio’s sybarite, and strikingly powerful presence; Marmaï makes him appropriately gregarious and lusty (and bisexual, which will raise eyebrows). He also gets some of the film’s occasionally mordant one-liners, as when D’Artagnan grows uneasy over the way information is being extracted from a grave-digger.
“I abhor torture,” the young man confesses.
“Everybody does,” Porthos cheerfully replies. “That’s why it works!”
Duris’ Aramis is the quiet one, keeping himself to himself. He’s the group’s sharpest observer and student of human nature: appropriate for a man eventually destined for the priesthood (at which point, one imagines he’ll have plenty to repent).
Ruf is an oddly flat presence as Richelieu: the film’s sole glaringly poor casting choice. (Charlton Heston, certainly no great actor, was a far more threatening Cardinal in Lester’s two films.)
Production designer Stéphane Taillasson and cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc deftly establish time and place; their early 17th century looks rigorously authentic. Bourboulon also orchestrated a massive army of smaller roles and extras, and he meticulously avoided the use of any digital effects; the result feels like a 1960s-era epic.
Do make a point of hanging around during the closing credits, in order to catch an important cut scene involving Richelieu.
I’m definitely awaiting the arrival of “The Three Musketeers: Milady,” which says a lot about this first half’s entertainment level.
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