Weak screenplay

Form seems to have taken precedence over content in Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers 3D

French novelist Alexander Dumas must be somersaulting in his grave the way in which filmmakers have taken liberties with his classic but the latest version surely takes the cake. Paul W.S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers 3D, because of his visual effects, has divested it of its infectious charm and though some touches are refreshing, in general, he seems to have missed the wood for the trees. That’s the trouble with literature.

Even Shakespeare has been interpreted in umpteen ways, some of which even the Bard of Avon never even dreamed of. With, at least, half a dozen versions since 1935, my earliest one was during my schooldays the 1948 one in which Gene Kelly and Lana Turner play the lead roles. The mid-1970s version had the effeminate Michael York and Oliver Reed in it. Then there was also one called The Four Musketeers.

Airships, aerial combats, multi-layered gowns add to the visual effects

The one-for-all, all-for-one credo is dulled and in its place we have airships and aerial combats, multi-layered gowns, which almost drown those in it, and FX working overtime. The swashbuckling Porthos, Athos and Aramis are joined by newcomer D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman) and have to save their na`EFve King from being exploited by the plotting Milady (Milla Jovovich) and the crafty Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz).

Because of the weak king, once peaceful France is now a powder keg waiting to explode. D’Artagnan is a country bumpkin, who soon becomes cocky but is still likeable. The screenplay is weak except for a few lines like when the Queen’s maid snubs him with "when it comes to wit, you don’t even exist." That the musketeers have to save France, the future of Europe and a few pretty women while they are at it but they did not have to drag it to all of 120 minutes.

Also, most of the characters are one-dimensional and flawed. Christoph Waltz is rather goody-goody for the crafty villain he was. Orlando Bloom does justice to Buckingham though he is wasted in a small cameo. So is Milla Jovovich. The others flit in and out of the frame like moths to a flame. If only there were some exciting lines would have made a big difference. Form seems to have taken precedence over content and that is a clear no-no in filmmaking.

HOME