1. Eva Green shines as the most ambiguous and spellbinding Milady to ever grace the big screen. She is also one of the most realistically physical and battle-hardened. This alone makes this movie worth viewing and ideally on a big screen. It's a tour de force by an actress born for this role.
2. The stakes are higher than ever thanks to the incoming climax of the 8 civil wars of religions which has been plaguing the Kingdom of France for 55 years in the final Huguenot Rebellions whose leaders are now entrenched in their bastion of La Rochelle and awaiting reinforcements from the wannabe-invading English ships lead by the Duke of Buckingham...War is afoot!
3. If Athos was not tortured enough as it is, his brother Benjamin De La Fere is inside La Rochelle fighting for the opposite protestant camp... PS: This departure from the book is actually historically accurate except it was Aramis and Porthos who were of Protestant descent like many a minor noble in Bearn and Gascony at this strifeful time. We can thank Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre for that!...
4. Meanwhile the true plotters and traitors who conspired to kill the King are still unknown. Is Richelieu the man we think he is (PS: we can thank Dumas for that myth-making)? Can Chalais the scheming leader of the Catholic League be trusted? Is Gaston, the King's brother, just an over-eager warhawk or a sandbox plotter?
5. D'Artagnan's sweetheart Constance Bonacieux and himself are both, separately, captured whilst all the finest swords in the kingdom are converging towards the unassailable Atlantic port city well protected in her strait to put down this republican rebellion once and for all. The siege of La Rochelle lasted a year but an infamous turning point in the Rochelais cause was when a nearby Ile de Ré citadel was taken and its cannons turned towards the incoming British navy and we will see how...
6. Despite the pathos and warring everywhere, expect some of the now internationally known Musketeer joviality to pop up thanks to some key characters we've known to love: the stutter-beater king Louis XIII, mountain of a man Porthos sidekicking by his brother in arm Aramis embroiled in his family affairs taking a dishonourable turn... What does a young nobleman do when his family honour is at stake, despite having already joined the front during a civil war? What does his notoriously rapacious and title-hungry friend do when he sees an opportunity to gain status and funds whilst giving a helping hand?
7. Athos and Milady's secret is revealed and it changes everything. The book fans and purists' jaws will drop to the floor. This is a Dumasian twist and a half!
8. The rapier fights are even bigger and better than in Part 1. But it's now war time my dears and thus MUSKETS and pistols finally make a grandiose appearance! We also get to see some nice glimpses of Renaissance-style coded letters and ciphers being passed around!
9. In terms of sexual manipulation, the tables are turned between D'Artagnan and Milady compared to the books. Make of that what you will. This also means she now has no particular hatred towards him and his beloved in this version (maybe it would not hurt to needle her nemesis Athos by proxy through our dear D'Arty but she seems to prefer minutely prepared revenge served cold). Yet she needs to go forward at all costs and they are in the way...Maybe even worse for the doomed lovebirds?...
10. Bonacieux is not your typical ingenue easily fooled and beguiled anymore but a goodie two shoes trying to keep her guilty conscience virtuous. Will she listen to her head or her heart?... You will not see two women catfight in this movie like in the Dick Lester one.
11. The ending is very Miladian. It will pierce your heart without remorse and run away after her deed is done. The only way for it to not be sadistic like her is if we get a part 3...
Enjoy the rollercoaster ride! ;-)
2. The stakes are higher than ever thanks to the incoming climax of the 8 civil wars of religions which has been plaguing the Kingdom of France for 55 years in the final Huguenot Rebellions whose leaders are now entrenched in their bastion of La Rochelle and awaiting reinforcements from the wannabe-invading English ships lead by the Duke of Buckingham...War is afoot!
3. If Athos was not tortured enough as it is, his brother Benjamin De La Fere is inside La Rochelle fighting for the opposite protestant camp... PS: This departure from the book is actually historically accurate except it was Aramis and Porthos who were of Protestant descent like many a minor noble in Bearn and Gascony at this strifeful time. We can thank Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre for that!...
4. Meanwhile the true plotters and traitors who conspired to kill the King are still unknown. Is Richelieu the man we think he is (PS: we can thank Dumas for that myth-making)? Can Chalais the scheming leader of the Catholic League be trusted? Is Gaston, the King's brother, just an over-eager warhawk or a sandbox plotter?
5. D'Artagnan's sweetheart Constance Bonacieux and himself are both, separately, captured whilst all the finest swords in the kingdom are converging towards the unassailable Atlantic port city well protected in her strait to put down this republican rebellion once and for all. The siege of La Rochelle lasted a year but an infamous turning point in the Rochelais cause was when a nearby Ile de Ré citadel was taken and its cannons turned towards the incoming British navy and we will see how...
6. Despite the pathos and warring everywhere, expect some of the now internationally known Musketeer joviality to pop up thanks to some key characters we've known to love: the stutter-beater king Louis XIII, mountain of a man Porthos sidekicking by his brother in arm Aramis embroiled in his family affairs taking a dishonourable turn... What does a young nobleman do when his family honour is at stake, despite having already joined the front during a civil war? What does his notoriously rapacious and title-hungry friend do when he sees an opportunity to gain status and funds whilst giving a helping hand?
7. Athos and Milady's secret is revealed and it changes everything. The book fans and purists' jaws will drop to the floor. This is a Dumasian twist and a half!
8. The rapier fights are even bigger and better than in Part 1. But it's now war time my dears and thus MUSKETS and pistols finally make a grandiose appearance! We also get to see some nice glimpses of Renaissance-style coded letters and ciphers being passed around!
9. In terms of sexual manipulation, the tables are turned between D'Artagnan and Milady compared to the books. Make of that what you will. This also means she now has no particular hatred towards him and his beloved in this version (maybe it would not hurt to needle her nemesis Athos by proxy through our dear D'Arty but she seems to prefer minutely prepared revenge served cold). Yet she needs to go forward at all costs and they are in the way...Maybe even worse for the doomed lovebirds?...
10. Bonacieux is not your typical ingenue easily fooled and beguiled anymore but a goodie two shoes trying to keep her guilty conscience virtuous. Will she listen to her head or her heart?... You will not see two women catfight in this movie like in the Dick Lester one.
11. The ending is very Miladian. It will pierce your heart without remorse and run away after her deed is done. The only way for it to not be sadistic like her is if we get a part 3...
Enjoy the rollercoaster ride! ;-)