Blair Loveday
I’d be lying if I said I watch a lot of French films, but every so often one catches my eye and has me intrigued. The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan caught my curiosity, and I am glad it did as there is something special here.
The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan kicks off with a young man named, you guessed it, D’artagnan.
He is headed to Paris wanting to join the Musketeers of the Guard when he sees a young noble woman being kidnapped. He can’t let it happen so steps in to help, and after a dope fight scene attackers escape, and D’artagnan winds up worse for wear.
D’artagnan carries on to Paris and gets himself lined up to join the musketeers as a cadet. He then sees one of the attackers out a window, so runs through the big building to get down to the street. In doing so he bumps into a man causing offense. A duel is scheduled for later in the day. He does this two more times, before getting out onto the street where he manages to lose track of the attacker.
When he goes for his first of the three duels for the day, the man brings along a couple of witnesses. By chance, the two witnesses are the other two men he offended, and so his duels are lined up one after the other. It turns out the men are Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, a.k.a. The Three Musketeers. The duel with Athos starts when some guards come and tell them that duels are illegal. A fresh new battle kicks off and all of them wind up winning the fight where they were outmatched. And so the Three Musketeers become friends with young D’artagnan.
That’s just the start of the movie!
An additional issue arises where the King of France is dealing with the Anglo-Saxon war. In addition to this, there are people trying to get his Queen beheaded. To get this sorted she needs to find her diamond necklace from an English man she fancied to knock some rumours on the head. Oh and of course people want to kill the King because, you know, old times. On top of that, Athos winds up being sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit.
There is all kinds of underhanded politics at play, and all these storylines cross over each other in interesting ways. It can get hard to follow at times, but you sit through and eventually remember which French dude is who. The acting is solid, albeit I can’t speak to the speaking part of the acting, as I don’t speak French. The action scenes are incredibly well choreographed and shot and a blast to watch.
The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan is the first part of two movies, and leaves on a big cliffhanger meaning I can’t wait to check out The Three Musketeers: Milady when it drops on Bluray. If this is what French films have to offer, I need to watch more French films! You should watch this one.
