THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Logan Lerman, Orlando Bloom

SO HERE we are, yet another Three Musketeers film, only this time we have floating galleons.

Overall, this version feels more like the 1973 film, but without Olivia Reed’s excellent acting and the equally talented Roy Kinnear.

Instead, we have some solid enough performances from the three main musketeers, while James Corden is woefully poorly-used in the Kinnear role.

Instead of battling zombies in the Resident Evil series, the director’s wife, Milla Jovovich, is ‘Milady’, fighting just about anyone.

Logan Lerman is OK as D’Artagnan but the star for me was Mads Mikkelsen as the one-eyed evil swordsman Rochefort.

The main problem with this musketeers movie (and with the ‘73 one) is that the Duke of Buckingham (Bloom) is heralded as one of the ‘baddies’. So we are supposed to cheer on the French and boo the English - sorry, but it didn’t seem natural to me.

For those few who don’t know the plot, we have the young D’Artagnan (Lerman) arriving in Paris and teaming up with three musketeers who are brought out of retirement to protect the Queen’s honour, fight the British, and keep the evil Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) at bay.

It has to be admitted the special effects are breath-taking and the sword-play very convincing.

The 3D is also used rather well for a change.

But it is a question of style over substance.

So, if you fancy an all-action movie with battling airships and plenty of puch-ups then this is for you.

three out of five stars

Steve Payne

Screening courtesy of Cineworld Crawley.