El mosquetero

I thought that the movie was an original version of the classic novel. It incorporated great fighting scenes that were out of this world. They looked as if they were some kind of asian/western/ fencing techniques all blended in with awesome stunt men. Also the story had a nice pace, the only problems were that the characters were underdeveloped. Mena Suvari had a great part and also great chemistry with Dartagnon (Justin Chambers) and I would have like to see more of the romance, but it was short and vauge. I would recommend this for a movie to watch at home or maybe on PPV, I don't know about spending more than that on it.

The star of the show is Justin Chambers and he gets incidental billing which is ridiculous despite his lack of acting skills. More good and bad news:

BAD - Having a weak lead actor is not the way to have box-office success. Stupid dialog doesn't help either, along with the Rambo action mentality in which the good guy doesn't get hit from close range.

GOOD - Some of the action scenes were spectacular, the best swordplay I've ever seen. The ones at the beginning and the end of the film were the best, with some incredible stunt work. This is beautifully photographed, too. Tim Roth was a good villain, as usual, and the heroes - even if they couldn't act - were fun to watch. The language is tame in here and the film should be rated PG, not PG- 13.

I'm a huge Dumas fan and watch every one of the adaptations but I missed this one originally. Just caught it on netflix and it's nowhere near as bad as it's made out to be. Yes, the lead is a little off and there isn't much chemistry between him and Mena Suvari who isn't at her best either. The wire based fight scenes look dated and there are a few scene pacing problems.

But overall this was quite fun. There *is* chemistry between the Queen and D'artagnan thanks to Catherine Deneuve who exudes star quality in every scene she's in. There are some nice performances from most of the character actors, the original 3 musketeers are great, and the humor if not the plot is very in keeping with the book.

I first thought this was a made for TV movie because of the credits at the beginning so I wasn't really expecting much and this definitely beat my expectations. The movie looks good and aside from a few characters most of them seem fairly real, the balance between schtick and too- serious was handled well.

Overall, too many faults to be a classic but definitely enough class and fun to be very entertaining. Recommended for fans of period movies and the tongue in cheek dramedy.

I am far to be a fan o Alexandre Dumas. So, this version is far to be a surprise. Except the presence of few good actors in not the best roles, some admirable fight scenes, a story reduced at conventional sketch, Tim Roth looking for the decent way to save his character from not happy script and, sure, Catherine Deneuve in a role who surprise not entirely in good sense . A film about nothing. This could be a virtue but , in this case, it remains bizarre. Because it is just a walk around characters, a poor script, fight scenes as fireworks. And this is all.

I dissent from the negative comments based on comparisons to the novel, or earlier " Three Musketeer" movies. This movie has no pretense of remaking the novel, or earlier movie versions ( the Michael York/Raquel Welch version is a classic). It is, at most, a modest "prequel", designed to capture young action viewers, and romantics ( Justin Chambers/ Mena Suvari); dirty old men ( Mena Suvari); and Deneuve fans (as all men ought to be).

Mena Suvari is wooden and ornamental, but Chambers here is at least as good as Heath Ledger in "A Knight's Tale". Deneuve is excellent as always. Tim Roth is a definitional villain, although Stephen Rea is a weak Richeleau. Lesser knowns as the other musketeers , and the French actor as " Planche", add spice.

I am a sucker for swordfighting movies, so loved this one.

There are many worse choices in your video store.