The Three Musketeers - 3D

The adventures of the Three Musketeers, captured in three novels by Alexandre Dumas, have been the template for a wide variety of cinematic interpretations. From fairly true-to-the-works films to silly duds to soft porn or a very trashy TV series starring David Hasselhoff and Thomas Gottschalk, the motto One for All! All for One! from the screens and TV screens. Now Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson has also taken on the well-known material and wants to give it a new, entertaining twist with the latest CGI effects and 3D technology. However, he only succeeded to a limited extent.

When young D`Artagnan (Logan Lerman) arrives in Paris in the 17th century, he makes many enemies in his very first hours in the city. Of all people, he wants to duel the legendary musketeers Athos (Matthew Macfadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans). But when he instead puts the leader of Cardinal Richelieu's bodyguard, the nasty Rochefort (Mads Mikkelsen), and his troops to flight, the three musketeers take the young fighter into their midst. And just at the right time. For the power-hungry Richelieu (Christoph Waltz), with the help of the wily M`lady de Winter (Milla Jovovich), plans to create a rift between King Louis XIII (Freddie Fox) and the English Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) that will end in war between the two countries. For their country and for love, the heroes, now grown into four musketeers, set out on an adventure that they can only survive if they faithfully follow their motto: One for all! All for One!

The positive right from the start: The Three Musketeers looks damn good. The locations in Bamberg, Würzburg or Herrenchiemsee are perfectly chosen and give the adventurous action a certain elegance and a show value that is extremely conducive to the overall impression. In addition, Anderson has managed to lure some really good actors in front of the camera with Christoph Waltz, Mads Mikkelsen, Matthew Macfadyen or Ray Stevenson. Waltz in particular once again takes obvious pleasure in playing the villain, this time even managing to convince despite a particularly nasty hairstyle.

A literary template with a lot of potential, good actors, picturesque locations and a great set - all these are the best prerequisites for a great adventure film. In some ways, Anderson's The Three Musketeers has become just that. But there is something that the film is distinctly lacking. There is hardly a moment where the makers have brought their own ideas to their production. For instance, Paul Haslinger's music sounds almost outrageously suspiciously like Pirates of the Caribbean at some moments. Anderson's partner Milla Jovovich acts in most moments exactly like in the Resident Evil movies. In the opening scene in particular, there's a moment that could have come so exactly from the video game adaptations, if it weren't for the dress Jovovich wears here to chase through the action-packed scenery. And Orlando Bloom, finally, comes across as if the makers had crampedly tried to make him the Jack Sparrow of the Musketeers - which admittedly didn't succeed.

All this leads to the fact that The Three Musketeers have been brought to life rather lovelessly and, above all, unimaginatively at times. There are moments that work really well, though. The battle of the Musketeers against Rochefort's guard, for example, is superbly and extremely entertainingly staged. And the first appearance of Buckingham's airship also has a very high show value. In addition, there are some amusing dialogues and nice action sequences, which do not erase some of the obvious weak points, but at least make them bearable.

Paul W.S. Anderson can direct good action, but then a really good director makes more. Had he been a little less uptight about trying to ride the wave of success of other films and focused more on the script than the visual effects, the remake of The Three Musketeers could have been a lot more than just decent popcorn entertainment. However, since many viewers don't expect much more from a film like this, the noticeable lack of imagination will probably only be a limited negative. But pretty effects and the neat 3D optics can not hide the fact that the material has been filmed far more successful and could have been much better with the prerequisites that were available to Anderson. Therefore, if you're just looking for fodder for the eye and an entertaining adventure off the shelf, you'll be well served here. But if you also hope for originality and a good script, you will be bitterly disappointed.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp