The Musketeer

The Musketeer is supposedly based on Alexandre Dumas' novel about the three musketeers. If so, it is very loosely, for there is not much of the original left in Peter Hyams' film, which is an energetic action comedy. It is not particularly profound, but it is entertaining, and you can be fairly sure of a happy ending.

When D'Artagnan was a child, his parents were murdered by the unscrupulous Febre, henchman of the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu. Now D'Artagnan is a young man who wants to follow in his father's footsteps. He wants to be one of the king's musketeers. Unfortunately, the musketeers have fallen into considerable disfavour. The cardinal has made thoroughly sure of that, so now it is his men who guard the king.

The musketeers have given up altogether and taken to whoring and drinking instead, but with or without the musketeers, D'Artagnan is determined to protect his king and his queen. That is sorely needed, and fortunately the young man is joined by the three musketeers. Another ally is the sweet chambermaid Francesca, who has replaced Dumas' Constance, but then she did suffer a terrible fate.

The Musketeer is a real adventure without much realism. That goes for the fight scenes too, which have clearly been choreographed by an Asian. One of the scenes is more or less a copy of a scene in the excellent martial arts film "Once Upon a Time in China".