The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan: A Grand and Spectacular Adaptation

The novel The Three Musketeers has been screened dozens of times, both in France and at Hollywood. With his new adaptation of the work of Alexandre Dumas, filmmaker Martin Bourboulon has achieved the feat of breathing new life into this timeless classic by infusing it with a healthy dose of realism and modernity.

The first part of a film that will be divided into two parts (the second feature will be released in December), The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan transports us to France, in 1627, when the Kingdom is divided by the wars of religions and threatened with invasion by England. 

It is in this context that the young D'Artagnan (François Civil) leaves his native Gascony to offer his services to King Louis XIII as a musketeer. Barely arrived in Paris, he meets Athos (Vincent Cassel), Porthos (Pio Marmaï) and Aramis (Romain Duris), the three musketeers of the king with whom a complicity is immediately established. With his new brothers in arms, he will try to thwart a plot orchestrated by Cardinal Richelieu (Éric Ruf) and his diabolical spy, Milady (Eva Green).

At the heart of the action

By revisiting the work of Alexandre Dumas, director Martin Bourboulon (Eiffel) says he wanted to refresh the genre of “cloak and dagger” by offering a darker and more modern adaptation of the novel published in 1844. The result is very convincing. Supported by Quebec cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc, Bourboulon filmed the fight scenes in sequence shots, thus plunging the viewer into the heart of the action. Benefiting from a colossal budget (about $100 million for the two films), the filmmaker has managed to concoct high-quality entertainment that has nothing to envy to Hollywood productions of the same genre. 

While François Civil bursts the screen in the skin of the young and fiery D'Artagnan, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris and Pio Marmaï give presence to the characters of Athos, Aramis and Porthos. We would be remiss not to highlight the performance of Eva Green, who embodies a mysterious Milady at will. It is this character who will be at the heart of the plot of the second film, entitled The Three Musketeers: Milady. We can't wait! 

Rating: 4 out of 5