The Three Musketeers (2011)

Since first hearing about the making of this film I've been quite interested but not quite enough to see it in cinemas so I waited until it came out on DVD.
The interesting cast and the classic tale are what drew my interest but I wasn't sure about the modern updates they added.

First impressions are that The Three Musketeers (2011) is a beautifully filmed period film with quite a bit of action but it's not quite as good as I'd hoped.

Logan Lerman as D'Artagnan

Story: In Venice the three musketeers join Milady de Winter in raiding a secret vault and stealing plans for a military vessel but she betrays them and hands the plans over to evil Duke of Buckingham. In France young D'Artagnan leaves home to join the Musketeers but upon arriving in Paris his reckless behavior sets him at odds against the men he wants to join. When he meets up with Athos, Porthos and Aramis for their duels they are attacked by forty soldiers from Cardinal Richelieu's guard and a fight ensues in which the four beat the forty. During the fight D'Artagnan meets Constance, a pretty young lady-in-waiting to the Queen but although he is instantly enchanted she is not impressed by his clumsy country ways. When the musketeers are summoned to the palace to be reprimanded the Cardinal is angered by bratty young King Louis awarding their behavior. In Cardinal Richelieu's desire for power he plots with Milady to steal a diamond necklace from Queen Anne's collection giving it to Buckingham in the hopes that King Louis will think his wife was unfaithful to him, embarrass Buckingham and set Frances and England at war. The Musketeers uncover the plot and must act quickly to retrieve the necklace and foil the evil schemes.  

Constance watches D'Artagnan fight

Script: I'm really not sure how this follows the book but it seems to be very loosely based on Alexandre Dumas's original work. The biggest change is in the addition of the explosions, flying ships, gadgets, sword fights and other ways they've made the story more action packed. The language used is very modern and references are made to quotes and ideas that are not particularly historically accurate. There are several witty remarks and funny scenes though.
On a second viewing of the film: Co-written by Andrew Davies!?!?! How did I miss that? That actually explains a lot, haha!

Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis

Scenes: Brilliant indoor and outdoor scenes and amazing cinematography. I didn't feel like I missed anything not watching it in 3-D though. Some of the fighting scenes are slowed down to show off the swords and punches. Each scene was filled with rich color, textures and interesting objects.

 

Costumes: Amazing and extravagant costumes are worn by the rich and famous. There's a delightful running rivalry joke between the Duke of Buckingham and King Louis as to what color is the height of fashion and the two men try to best the other with their elaborate outfits! Queen Anne and Constance wear some pretty dresses and hairstyles. Milady wears gowns of exquisite fabrics but most of her gowns are very low cut. Milday also wears other immodest garments that fit her character but aren't really necessary. Her fake looking ringlets bugged me a lot. The Musketeers usually wear black but occasionally don disguises.

Queen Anne dances with King Louis

Music: Anyone who enjoys the soundtracks for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the Sherlock Holmes films will find many similarities in this soundtrack even though it was composed by a different person, Paul Haslinger. The songs are quite upbeat, catchy and perfectly suit the adventurous nature of the film. When I watched the DVD copy with my family the music was a bit annoying because it often overpowered the dialog, but that might have just been our television set because on my laptop it seemed to be fine. Listen to samples of the soundtrack at Amazon.

Actors In Their Roles:

• Matthew Macfadyen as Athos - As the leader of the group Athos plans out their missions (which put me in mind of MM's previous role as modern day MI-5 agent) and is often their spokesman. His past relationship with Milady leads to a few kisses and some verbal sparring. He is a fairly serious character but does have some delightful dry witty comment. Matthew Macfadyen extremely brilliant as always and definitely made Athos my favorite character of the lot. 
• Ray Stevenson as Porthos - A big man of great strength and humor who uses both in his fighting and escape techniques. He's fond of ladies' company and lets the rich ones buy his fancy clothes. I didn't think his character was give enough time to develop or as many witty lines as he should of had.
• Luke Evans as Aramis - The priest turned soldier, Aramis is a curious mixture of swordsmanship and prayer. His character was quite interesting and on the whole I liked Mr. Evans portrayal of Aramis.
• Logan Lerman as D'Artagnan - A cocky youth with a brave heart, D'Artagnan is the hero of the tale who gets by on the skin of his teeth and . Logan Lerman is an American actor and although he did a good job I wasn't completely thrilled with his performance. Like Constance at first I found him too reckless and the character development just wasn't there for me. 
• Orlando Bloom as Duke of Buckingham - Well first of all I wasn't quite sure about Orlando Bloom being cast as a villainous character but a very few minutes served to change that opinion. Buckingham has a lot of rock star qualities: fashionable clothes, flashy transportation, charm for the ladies and a lot of swagger. Orlando Bloom added a lot of personality and humor in his portrayal which I particularly enjoyed even though he's a foe of the Musketeers. 
• Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu - This Cardinal Richelieu surprised me a bit because I'm used to the character being the evil mastermind who also fights but this Cardinal is not a man of action at all and while he does engineer the plots against king and country he's not as villainous as in other films I've seen. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz didn't quite work for me in the role but he was okay.  
• Milla Jovovich as Milady de Winter - In this film Milady is not only a temptress and a liar but she's also a double spy who does spy things like break into vaults, crawling through security lasers, shooting guns and wielding a mean sword. Not a favorite literary character for me and I didn't really like how they clothed (or didn't clothe) her in this film. 
• Freddie Fox as King Louis - Young, spoiled, bratty, pompous, selfish, but insecure, leaning on the Cardinal's guidance and completely lost at how to get his Queen to like him. Actor Freddie Fox was perfect in the role (minus the strawberry blond wig they gave him) and actually made the character quite interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing him as Edwin Drood in the new adaptation! 
• Juno Temple as Queen Anne - Pretty and regal but perhaps a bit too outspoken. To me Juno Temple was an odd choice for the role but she did an alright job.
• Gabriella Wilde as Constance - As the heroine D'Artagnan's story this Constance is all sweetness and beauty but she also has a good deal of bravery and sense. She makes D'Artagnan work a bit for her affection but is a good friend and ally. I'd never seen Gabriella Wilde act before but she did a lovely job of making the character very interesting. I hope to see her in more period films in future. 
• Mads Mikkelsen as Rochefort - As captain of Cardinal Richelieu's guard he is a great scoundrel complete with a scary black eye patch. Although he seems to loose to the Musketeers he always seems to have an evil plan that one-ups them. Mads Mikkelsen makes a very convincing villain and the sword fight between him and D'Artagnan is a very well done scene!
• James Corden as Planchet - Every adventure film needs a little comic relief and Planchet is definitely it! As the Musketeer's servant he's the one who has to put food on the table, carry the bags and worry a little. He's made fun of a bit but in the end he does get to do some heroic deeds. But even though his character was funny he was also the one that used the most offensive language (see specifics below) that actually made the lines not as funny.

Constance & D'Artagnan

My Thoughts: There were a lot of fun things that I enjoyed about this film but some others things that I didn't like. Some of the characters were really good but others not as interesting as I'd hoped. Overall the action scenes with the guys fighting didn't bother me too much but Milady's fighting scenes really irritated me. The relationship between D'Artagnan and Constance, although cute, was fairly artificial and didn't have much time to develop so we understood why they liked each other or why they were kissing by the end.
The flying ships were a bit of a stretch for me and Milday's ending wasn't nearly as interesting as it could have been. There were definite funny moments but some of them were disappointing because the language used was a tad more blunt than was necessary. Overall I liked it well enough but it wasn't as interesting as I hoping. I want to like it more but it just fell sadly short in a few areas.

D'Artagnan, Aramis, Porthos and Athos 

My Recommendations: This film is rated PG-13 for good reason, sadly it's not as family friendly as it could have been. There is some language used in this film that I was a bit surprised by. Besides God's name being used in vain there are offensive words for poo, bosoms, bottoms and children born out of wedlock.
The ladies wear low cut dresses and at one point Milady strips to her underclothes for an entire scene. The sword fighting and explosions are similar to a Pirates of the Caribbean film in the violence rating but it's not too bad. Overall I'd only recommend this film for families if you have something like ClearPlay to cut out some of the questionable bits. Fans of the book might not like it because it does stray widely from the original. Period drama fans will enjoy the amazing costumes and scenery. Fans of Matthew Macfadyen will definitely enjoy this role. Not highly recommended or a must see but an interesting flick.

"All for one and one for all!"

Have you seen The Three Musketeers (2011)? 
What did you think of it?


Was this review helpful? Do you plan to watch the film?


Very Truly Your's,

Eating Muffins

Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)? It's been a favorite for a while because it's a sweet story with a stellar cast and it always makes me laugh!

Here's one of my favorite clips from the film that shows Colin Firth at his funniest:

"They seem to be eating muffins."

Have you seen The Importance of Being Earnest?Do you have a favorite scene or line?

Added a Games Page

I've added a Games page to Old-Fashioned Charm. It has a list of the past games and quizzes that have been featured in the past few months. The games are listed by type with links to the game post and the answers post. 

I created this page so that any of you dear readers, who didn't get a chance to play the games when they were first posted, can play them at your leisure.

Enjoy! :)

Very Truly Your's,

Period Drama Actor: Matthew Macfadyen

Matthew Macfadyen (heretofore to be referred to as MM) is a hugely talented British actor well known for his many roles in period dramas on TV and the big screen. 

He was born David Matthew Macfadyen on October 17th, 1974 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. 

During his childhood his family lived in England, Scotland and Indonesia where his father worked for a period of time. His mother is a drama teacher and former actress. He was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at age 17 and studied there from 1992 to 1995. He did stage work for a few years before being cast in the BBC's 1998 production of Wuthering Heights. Since that time he has appeared in numerous TV show, miniseries and film. He's also added his distinctive voice to documentaries, radio plays and audio books.

Let's take a look at his period drama roles:

Wuthering Heights (TV 1998) as Hareton Earnshaw

MM's first onscreen role. Not a favorite film or story but MM is in the interesting ending part of the story.

 

The Way We Live Now (TV 2001) as Sir Felix Carbury

This is one of his few scoundrel roles and he plays it so convincingly but it's hard to dislike the character completely because it's MM! :)

Pride & Prejudice (2005) as Mr. Darcy
Not quite my favorite Mr. Darcy but he's one of the best parts about this P&P interpretation. He had a different approach to Mr. Darcy portraying him as a bit shy and not as confident as other Darcys. 

Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye (TV 2008) as Inspector Neele

As a police inspector he collaborates with Miss Marple in solving a series of murders and is more considerate than most chief investigating officers. A completely likable character if only they hadn't given him that crazy mustache.

Little Dorrit (TV 2008) as Arthur Clennam
My favorite of MM's role! Kind, honorable, generous and very sweet, Arthur Clennam is one of my all-time favorite period drama and literary heroes. His portrayal is just brilliant!

Robin Hood (2010) as Sheriff of Nottingham
I haven't seen this film yet but it's a very interesting casting. MM as a villainous Medieval Sheriff? Well he certainly can play almost any character he puts his mind to. Since I'm such a big Robin Hood fan now I hope to see this sometime soon. 

 

The Pillars of the Earth (TV 2010) as Philip

Another film I haven't seen but the ancient time period is quite interesting. He plays a church prior.

 The Three Musketeers (2011) as Athos

I recently saw this film and am hoping to review it soon. I found MM's character to be more of a leader of the group, a great swordsman, a romantic lead and he has several hilarious lines! Despite the longer mane and facial hair (a look I'm not too fond of on him) it was a great role for him.

Anna Karenina (in production) as Oblonsky
Currently filming Anna Karenina where he's act alongside Keira Knightley again. Looks like he'll be sporting a full beard in this film but I haven't found any photos of him yet (the one photo is Jude Law with Keira). The story isn't very interesting to me but the cast is.

Random Facts about MM:

--Married to lovely actress Keeley Hawes since 2004. (Read my post about Keeley here.)

--They have three children: Myles, Maggie and Ralph.

--Is 6 feet, 3inches tall.

--Mother of Welsh heritage, father of Scottish.

--Awarded a BAFTA in June 2010.

--Is apparently allergic to cats. :(

MM's wife Keeley & kids visit him on the set of Little Dorrit in 2008. 

MM Quotes:
'Like, the actor in me would always like to be more dashing, or slimmer, or have nicer hair. You know what I mean? I see pictures of Colin Firth and think, "That’s Darcy." I see my big face and my funny hair and I think, "Pudding head!"'

[on approaching the character of Mr. Darcy for Pride and Prejudice:] "I find Darcy very sympathetic, I find it heartbreaking that he's seen as very haughty and proud - and he is those things - but he's a young man who is still grieving for his parents. He's from an ancient family and has this huge responsibility, but it seemed to me that he's still trying to work out who he is and how to be in the world. I found that very interesting, and I found him very sympathetic."

"I have felt some twinges recently, about parts I wanted to play that I may be getting too old and fat to do. Hamlet, for example – maybe that’s gone. I would love to play Richard II." - from a February 2010 interview

Didn't make this but love it! haha :)

Matthew Macfadyen is one of my all time favorite actors and who I hope to see in many other period drama roles. 

Which of MM's roles is your favorite?

Which of his roles do you most want to seen?

Tag of Elevens

The Tag of Elevens is being passed around and I have been kindly tagged by four different ladies: Charity at Austenitis, Miss Dashwood at Yet Another Period Drama Blog, Hayden at The Story Girl and Payton at Dirth and Dickens. Thank you all, this was fun! :)

Tag Rules:

-Tell 11 Random things about yourself.

-Answer 11 questions from the person who tagged you.

-Create 11 new questions for people you tag.

-Tag 11 people.

Since Charity, Miss Dashwood, Hayden and Payton each had different questions I'm going to skip the first step of telling 11 random things about myself and get straight to answering the questions. 

Charity's Questions:

1. What’s your favorite breakfast food?
Waffles, hash browns, bacon, danish, muffins, pretty much I love breakfast! And orange juice is a must! :)

2. What’s your favorite book by Jane Austen?
Northanger Abbey! It was the first JA novel I read, I've also listened to my audiobook cassette tapes of NA so many times that quotes from the book crop up at the oddest moments!

3. What’s your favorite period drama?
Jane Austen adaptations (Persuasion 1995 is my favorite) come first on the list followed by Elizabeth Gaskell adaptations (Cranford is my favorite) and Charles Dickens adaptations (favorite is Little Dorrit).

4. What’s your favorite book by a more modern author?
I love The Princess by Lori Wick. I also like anything by Janette Oke and the Dinah Harris Mystery series by Christian author Julie Cave.

5. What’s your favorite kind of chip?
Salt & vinegar potato chips and Sun chip. I actually love chips!

6. What’s your favorite fast food restaurant?
Taco Bell - their Nacho Bell Grandes and grilled stuffed burritos are my favorites. I also love Subway (with chips, hehe)!

7. What’s your favorite classic book not by Jane Austen?
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell is probably my favorite non-Austen book. I also love A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Rose In Bloom by Louisa May Alcott.

8. What’s your favorite Jane Austen film adaption?
Persuasion 1995 followed closely by Emma 2009.

9. What’s your favorite movie soundtrack?
Probably Pride & Prejudice (2005) but I also enjoy Sense & Sensibility (1995), Emma (2009) and also The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) is fun.

10. What’s your favorite place to read?
Curled up in a comfy chair or couch, especially when it's rainy outside. I also like to read in bed just before (or instead of) going to sleep.

11. What’s your favorite thing to blog about?
Anything about Jane Austen, her novels or characters is good. I also love posting about historic characters because it means I get to do a bit research and share some of my findings wit my lovely readers. :) 

Miss Dashwood's Questions:

1. Describe your dream pair of shoes.
Cute and comfy. I usually have a hard time finding shoes because all of the cute ones are usually too narrow or they are heels and a lot of the super comfy ones aren't as pretty. I wish they made cute styles like they have for little girls (Mary Janes, sandals, sneakers) in ladies sizes!

2. What's your favorite children's picture book?
I loved being read to as a child so I had a lot of favorite books. One of my favorites was Ten Items or Less by Stephanie Calmenson a story where a little girl goes shopping with her mom and has to count the items they get to make sure they can check out in the 10 items or less line. And I still like reading kids books from time to time. :)

3. What's your favorite fruit?
Grapes maybe. I love all kinds of fruits especially raspberries, strawberries, apples, bananas, melons and oranges.

4. How tall are you? (I always like to know how tall people are-- not sure why. Don't worry, I'm not asking for your weight... and if you feel it's an invasion of your privacy to post your height, you can substitute a picture of a cute kitten for this question.)
I'm 5 foot, 2 and half inches (and very proud of that half inch!) but I'm posting a photo of a cute kitten anyway because I love kitties!

5. If money was no object, where would you like to go on your honeymoon?
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England (in that order) and then maybe Prince Edward Island. Yeah, I think it might take a while to see everything I want to see! hehe

6. Who is your favorite singer?
My all-time favorite singer is probably Josh Groban, his voice is so rich and never gets old.

7. What's the next book on your to-read list?
Haha! This question is tricky to answer because if you could only see my shelf of to-read books you'd probably die of shock! I'm not a fast reader at all so I have lots of books I want to read and just haven't yet. I'm currently reading Great Expectations and then I have two books in Colleen Coble's Mercy Falls series to read.

8. What's your biggest language-related pet peeve? (i.e., what phrases or words bug you the most?)
The phrase "anywho" bugs me a bit just because it doesn't have much meaning. Also I dislike it when people use texting speech in everyday conversation.

9. Which movie lines do you quote the most? (share as many or as few as you like)
Well I come from a family of movie quoters so there are A LOT of films we quote from.
All of the Jane Austen adaptations contain a lot of favorite quotes but particularly Sense & Sensibility 1995 and Persuasion 1995. The whole of Princess Bride is quoted almost daily in my house and by my extended family. Others my family quotes from: Much Ado About Nothing, Wives and Daughters, Anne of Green Gables, Bleak House, Courageous, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean movies, National Treasure movies, lots of Disney films, Muppet Christmas Carol, Eloise movies, musicals, Pink Panther movies, You've Got Mail, Ernest movies and a lot of others from time to time.
My sister and I also quote from the Robin Hood TV show, North & South and a few others of our favorites.

10. If you could wear any outfit from a movie for a day, what would you choose?
Probably on of Emma Woohouses lovely dresses from Emma (2009), I love the fabrics and colors of her dresses!

11. What's your favorite dessert?
Ice cream is always a favorite but I have a huge sweet tooth!






Hayden's Questions:

1. What is your middle name? (If you don’t feel comfortable posting that online, what is a name that you especially like?)
My middle name is Brittany, and I don't really like it because of how popular the name has gotten in recent years. But my names sound pretty nice together: Laurie Brittany.

2. What is your least favorite book?
There's lots of books I haven't read which I'm sure I wouldn't like. Of the books I have read I didn't like The Jane Austen Book Club, I skipped a great deal of it and wished the whole time that it could have been different - better.

3. If you could be in charge of directing one movie based on a novel, what would that book be?
Definitely Mansfield Park (but if a new Northanger Abbey was in the works I'd need to have my part of the conversation!) because I've recently fallen in love with the story and the characters and hope one day to see a miniseries made that represents the story and Miss Fanny Price correctly.

4. How many siblings do you have?
Two - my brother is four years younger and my sister is nine years younger.

5. If you are not home schooled, do you wish you were? If you are, what’s your favorite thing about home schooling?
My favorite thing about being home schooled was doing school in my jim-jams (PJs) but we also had some of the best field trips.

6. Who is your favorite Bible character (besides Jesus!)
Esther, I admire her strength, faith and bravery.

7. If you had to pick a music CD that you think described you as a person, what would it be?
Hmm...maybe the Sense & Sensibility 1995 soundtrack? The titles of the songs are sort of fit and I love the music. I can't really think of any other possibilities.

8. What is your favorite musical?
Singin' In The Rain is a favorite but I also love Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and The Phantom of the Opera.

9. Would you rather visit Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, or Ancient Babylon?
Oh dear! None of these? Ancient cultures aren't really my thing. Maybe Ancient Rome and I'd visit Paul when he was in house arrest. I've also always wondered what his death was like, what words he spoke at the last (a bit morbid I know).

10. Quick! Pick one! Rock, paper, or scissors?
Paper, always paper. :)

11. You’ve been nominated for an Academy award! Describe the dress you’d wear on the red carpet.
Pretty, feminine, modest, has sleeves (haha!), absolutely no sequins and probably either blue or purple.

Payton's 11 Questions:

1. What character in the Bible can you most relate to and why?
Maybe Gideon or Thomas but I'd like to be like Ruth or Esther.

2. What is one of your biggest fears?
Wow, this is a rather tricky question. Maybe fire.

3. If you could spend a day with a fictional character, who would it be?
Henry Tilney! Just because he's my favorite Austen hero. But any other Austen character would do! :)

4. What is your favorite season of the year?
Definitely Autumn and Autumn in New England because it's so beautiful!

5. God sees you as beautiful and lovely. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
Do you mean physical or personality? Well I do really like my hair which is long, dark, incredibly thick and wavy. Of course I do have bad hair days but thankfully they are few.

6. Who is your favorite historical figure, and why do you admire him/her?
Well, Jane Austen is an obvious choice so I'm going to choose someone less obvious. I really like Queen Victoria and the impact she had on her country and the world. I admire her strength and deep attachment to Price Albert.

7. You just won $50,000. What are you going to do with it?
Fix up my car, pay for some family medical needs, redecorate my room and donate to my favorite camping ministry. But a trip to meet a special Nonsensical Friend might also be in order. ;)

8. What is your favorite type of ethnic food? (i.e., Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc)
Mexican is probably my favorite but I also love Italian and American Chinese food.

9. If you could change the name of a fictional character, who would it be and why?
Henry Crawford because I don't think he deserves the name of Henry! Something more like George or Richard would suit better because Villain or Scoundrel might be a little bit obvious. Hehe!

10. What is your opinion on garden gnomes?
They are a little bit creepy and if you turn your back on them they might just steal your lunch! haha JK
But then I still want to see Gnomeo & Juliet because I've heard it's cute.

11. What is currently your favorite song?
Maid of Culmore sung by Celtic Thunder.


My 11 Questions
1. What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?
2. Which M&M color is your favorite?
3. What is your favorite type of salad dressing?
4. Have you ever read a book by Agatha Christie?
5. Do you name your electronic gadgets?
6. Flip flops or sandals? Why?
7. Which Elizabeth Gaskell story (novel or movie) is your favorite?
8. What time of day is your favorite?
9. Which song would you most like to learn how to play on a musical instument?
10. Would you rather live in the Regency Era or the Victorian Era?
11. What are your favorite names for a girl? and for a boy?

I'm Tagging: Many of my blogging friends have already been tagged so instead of trying to tag 11 different people I'm just going to say that if you are reading this and would like to answer the questions I came up with then "tag, you're it!"
Also, if you like any of my questions please feel free to answer them in a comment instead. I love hearing from you! :)

Very Truly Your's,