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At a fast and jarring speed, this second installment of The Three Musketeers follows directly after the first – both being adapted from the original story by Alexandre Dumas and written by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière, with direction by Martin Bourboulon. This film prominently features Eva Green as Milady de Winter, the alluring, sensual, smirking, and dangerous assassin working for Cardinal Richelieu. In the previous film, Milady appeared to have met her demise in a dramatic fall from a cliff, similar to Moriarty’s fate at the Reichenbach Falls. However, she has returned in this second film, even more enigmatic and irresistible than before.
Milady is embroiled in an intricately complicated plan to incite a war between France and treacherous Albion, utilizing a deceitful uprising by the Huguenots. This is all in an effort to overthrow King Louis XIII (played by Louis Garrel). The mastermind behind this scheme is not who everyone assumes, although the audience can make a fairly accurate guess at the true culprit. Our four main protagonists, D’Artagnan (played by François Civil), Athos (Vincent Cassel), Porthos (Pio Marmaï), and Aramis (Romain Duris), take center stage once again, engaging in daring acts as they infiltrate the conspirators to uncover their plans. D’Artagnan is on a romantic quest to save his beloved Constance Bonacieux (played by Lyna Khoudri) from abduction and imprisonment. There is also a shocking revelation regarding Athos, although Cassel’s performance leaves some ambiguity as to the emotional turmoil surely raging within his heart.
The action scenes in this movie are just as wild as in the first one, although there isn’t as much focus on horseback riding. There are some impressive stunts, but I did feel that the gap between films caused some of the excitement to fizzle out. It takes more effort to re-engage with the characters and their actions. However, it is still an impressive spectacle, especially with all four of the musketeers being charming characters. D’Artagnan, in particular, is a noble and conflicted figure.
Source: theguardian.com
