Overrated

Dreadfully Boring

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

1654. When the titular daughter, Eloise(the stunning Marceau, who takes over her father's arc, and is equally big on honor, justice, and defending the innocent), gets a hint of a conspiracy, she leaves the convent her and her mother were at(...if you aren't safe there, then where?), goes to Paris, has her first suitor(Tavernier, a poet who is not exactly skilled with a weapon; he is the comic relief, and in spite of that, he is seldom annoying, they walk the line of that well), and asks the elder D'Artagnan(Noiret, who recognizes himself as a youth in her... and the two have a great relationship, one of several that are sweet and, as a lot of the humor, very human, very sympathetic... she wants to be as big an adventurer as he was, he wants her to be a woman, and listen to her, and in amongst the expectations, there is clearly a mutual love) for help. He sets about reuniting with Aramis(Frey, the religious and controlling of them) and Porthos(Billerey, always hungry; what of Athos? I won't give that away), (all three of them physically affected by it having been 20 years since they were last swashbuckling) and they will all seek out the mysterious Red Lady. This clearly loves the novels(with many references to them, and not all overt or direct) and wanted to add a new chapter to the overall narrative, that of the next generation, and it succeeds in delivering that and making it compelling. We get an early indication of how far our villains will go(and when you find out what they're doing, it's quite clever, and fairly historically accurate), the gradual build-up to seeing them together rather than immediately showing all of our favorite musketeers, and the fencing is great, both in quality and amount. Nice choreography, and the well-done visual composition of the fights ensures that you never lose track of where everybody is, in relation to each other, and what they're currently doing - even when it involves a dozen people, and they're in a crowded, well-furnished area, like a bar. This keeps to a moderate pace, and one can clearly tell it's French... you can practically smell the environment, sense it right in front of you - with people in the market selling, inside praying or writing, etc., according to the time. The mood is thus set effectively. Their passion is also clear, with several of the well-written characters suddenly bursting into rants, or arguing. And it is evident in the comedy, which I've already mentioned. This balances laughs and tension well. There is a lot of mild violence, a little female nudity(topless, and butt) and sexuality, and, I'm told by the Parents Guide(what? I don't speak it... MF'er), some strong language in this. I recommend this to any and all fans of the Dumas stories. 7/10

Bertrand Taverneir moves as fluidly between 'costume' pictures and modern-day dramas as Graham Greene moved between novels and 'entertainments' and here he gives us a delightful soufflé' with perhaps five believable words in the whole two hours. It borrows lavishly if only in spirit, from the Hollywood that gave us The Prisoner Of Zenda type movies where the personnel lace every sword-fight with one-liners. For what it's worth the plot has Sophie Marceau - raised in a convent lo these many years - witnessing the brutal murder of the Mother Superior and vowing revenge which will naturally involve finding her father, D'Artagnan, now an ex-musketeer, and teaming up with the original three (Athos, Porthos, Aramis) and overthrowing a plot to assassinate the new King. Although Tavernier wisely portrays Eloise as something less than an accomplished fencer he cancels this out to some extent by having her leap onto a horse as if she'd been riding all her life when she has, of course, been raised in a convent. No matter, there's swordplay, wordplay, a hissable villain in the shape of Claude Rich - looking uncannily like a smiling George C. Scott - Philippe Noiret as D'Artagnan and Sophie Marceau as his daughter. What's not to like.

Anachronistic--"adj : chronologically misplaced" My problem with this movie is the same problem I have with many modern movies that try to undo the sexism of the ages by creating brash, strong-willed heroines and placing them in historical dramas. While this might entertain some and make others feel better about their gender, from my point of view as a history teacher, they seem stupid and rather patronizing. In this case, you have the daughter of d'Artagnan (the 4th Musketeer) taking on baddies with the help of her estranged father. As for me, I HATE plucky, anachronistic heroines. If you want to portray a strong woman, make it a contemporary movie--don't make our history something it isn't! The lead, for part of the movie, ran around in men's clothes and looked EXACTLY LIKE A WOMAN DRESSED AS A MAN! Sophie Marceau is just too beautiful and shapely for this and it seems to assume the audience is too stupid to realize this! Come on folks, we deserve better than this! What's next? Moses played by a woman in THE 10 COMMANDMENTS PART II?

Only based on Alexander Dumas' musketeer tales, not taken from them, this movie still manages to capture the sense of fun and adventure that marked his novels.The four older actors playing the retired musketeers who are drawn back into the fray by D'Artagnan's daughter, Eloise, will be unfamiliar to most American viewers, but all of them have that same kind of slightly naughty French humor that so many Americans love in Gérard Depardieu (whose Porthos from the "Man in the Iron Mask" would have fit in perfectly here).And Sophie Marceau will charm the pants off of you - although her pants are about the only clothing item she manages to hang onto here. But she is saucy, funny and very strong.The scenery, too, will enchant - the castles, the countryside, all are gorgeous and true to the time.