The Musketeer (2001)

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writers (WGA):

Alexandre Dumas père (novels)
Gene Quintano (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 September 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

As you've never seen it before.

Plot:

Alexander Dumas' novel is updated with an eastern influence as D'Artagnan attempts to join the king's elite guards, the Royal Musketeers, and find the man who killed his parents.

Plot Keywords:

Musketeer | King | 17th Century | Gascony | Wuxia Fiction

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	The Queen
Mena Suvari	...	Francesca Bonacieux
Stephen Rea	...	Cardinal Richelieu
Tim Roth	...	Febre the Man in Black
Justin Chambers	...	D'Artagnan
Bill Treacher	...	Bonacieux
Daniel Mesguich	...	King Louis XIII
David Schofield	...	Rochefort, Richelieu Henchman
Nick Moran	...	Aramis
Steve Speirs	...	Porthos
Jan Gregor Kremp	...	Athos
Jeremy Clyde	...	Lord Buckingham
Michael Byrne	...	Treville, Head of the Musketeers
Jean-Pierre Castaldi	...	Planchet
Tsilla Chelton	...	Madame Lacross

Also Known As:

D'Artagnan (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and some sexual material.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Germany | Luxembourg | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Auch, Gers, France

Company:

MDP Worldwide

Goofs:

Continuity: The sky changes from overcast/gray to cloudy with blue sky during one of the carriage chase scenes. (This is the same scene where the jet contrails are visible)

Quotes:

Francesca: I'm not dead. Now will you please go kill him?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

One for all...but maybe not all for one

Peter Hyam's The Musketeer is the third of four mediocre Alexandre Dumas adaptations from the last twenty years; Disney's Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron mask, this, and the Count of Monte Cristo. According to renowned indie critic James Berardinelli, Hollywood is making Dumas turn in his grave. Iron Mask was the best and Monte Cristo was the worst. This one has its ups and downs.

The way I'd describe the Musketeer would be to say that it has a mannered brawn to it. To put it more casually, the film has the personality of a martial arts picture. You can either choose to see this as a good thing or a bad thing, but somehow, it feels a little to over the top and artificial for a 17th century French story.

I may have mentioned once, that Justin Chambers is pretty bad in the lead, but he is no worse than Oliver Platt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Charlie Sheen in the Disney version from ten years earlier. At least Chambers tries to be serious, one could say that he makes Sutherland, Platt and Sheen look like the three stooges in blue tunics.

Tim Roth can play good villains, but his performance as the black cloaked, one eyed, captain of the guard, (previously portrayed by Michael Wincott, and Christopher Lee) is not terribly menacing. In truth, none of the acting is especially good.

Once again Hyams acts as his own cinematographer, and he is a darn good one. Although not necessarily Oscar worthy, Much of the film is well shot, especially the climax, during which he makes great use of fire to light the hectic fight scenes.

As a swashbuckling film, The Musketeer does its job, but not very well. It's occasionally exciting, but often a little too unbelievable. My best recommendation for this kind of material would The Mask of Zorro.