Its cumbersome name notwithstanding, The Three Musketeers: Part 1 – D’Artagnan was a pleasant surprise. Director Martin Bourboulon took the source material seriously, along with its antiquated view of romance and chivalry. His cast include international French stars like Eva Green and Vincent Cassel, but more importantly, the action was a dazzling mix of swordplay and brutality that recalls John Wick. Bourbolon’s ambition does not stop there: he wants to adapt the whole book, which means there is too much material for one film. Now we have The Three Musketeers: Part 2 – Milady, a conclusion to the unresolved threads from the first film. Those who loved the first film may be disappointed by the second installment. It unfolds like an afterthought, without the urgency or suspense that made part one successful.
Before the action starts, there is a lengthy summary of the first film, not unlike what we see when we fire up the latest episode of a TV series. When we last left our heroes, D’Artagnan (François Civil) and his fellow musketeers thwarted a plot to depose King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel). But the dashing D’Artagnan cannot rest because his love Constance (Lyna Khoudri) was captured under mysterious circumstances, and he still does not know who orchestrated the coup. He has no choice but to trust the mysterious Milady (Green), who somehow survived jumping off a cliff in the first film, and who now hints she knows Constance’s whereabouts but keeps that secret to herself.
Screenwriters Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière seem to acknowledge this is not enough plot to sustain an entire film. Many scenes drag, eking out information that is glacial relative to the first film. While Athos (Cassel) can brood and resolve his brooding affair with Milady, his ex-wife, the remaining two musketeers have basically nothing to do. There is a comic subplot that is more a distraction than a source of levity: Porthos (Pio Marmaï) falls in love with a nun (Camille Rutherford), who turns out to be the sister of Aramis (Romain Duris). Porthos follows his heart, forcing the nun to break her vows while annoying his friend along the way. There is comic potential, of course, and yet Bourboulon pads out each development, practically giving this story almost equal weight to D’Artagnan’s urgent search. As a result, Milady loses its momentum.
What compounds this frustration is some sequences are downright thrilling. Bourboulon is fond of the “hero shot,” and so there are many sequences where the musketeers race against time on horseback, for example, while the camera glides overhead so we can also see the stunning French countryside. Indeed, this version of The Three Musketeers is a travelogue for France’s natural beauty, including dramatic seaside vistas in Brittany where the tide sucks up all the surrounding water, only to flood the area hours later. There is also a dynamite action sequence where English ships attack a seaside garrison, so the musketeers might fend off ground forces while cannons fire all around them. The film does not skip on the production values, the rare European action extravaganza that rivals Hollywood, and the finely tuned performances only add to the credibility. No one can deny the enthusiasm and respect for the material.
But it is precisely that respect that proves to be the undoing of Milady. The issue is with the source material: Dumas’ novel is a swashbuckler, but is a classic because of its malleability, not because readers cherish the text. It is overlong, with stories and characters meandering in unsatisfying ways. There is a reason that most adaptations focus on the dramatic assassination attempt, and not all the story that comes afterward. This a symptom, not a bug, of Dumas as an author: the 1998 adaptation The Man in the Iron Mask is only one-third of a serialized saga that was published over several years, and contains nearly 269 chapters. You feel that bloat in Milady, and not just because D’Artagnan’s quest for Constance is more about a foolhardy romantic ideal, rather than borne out of chemistry (they barely have any scenes together in the first film). Milady is similarly murky, a mess of secrets and obscure motivations. After over twenty years in the movies, Green is still a stunner and a captivating presence, and yet her witchy, magnetic power cannot overcome a character whose motivations shift to whatever the plot requires.
Milady concludes with a climatic showdown. In a burning building, Milady and D’Artagnan draw swords, while the flames near them get closer and closer, a 17th-Century riff on the climax of Revenge of the Sith. The impasse between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan is clear-cut, while Milady and D’Artagnan duel for reasons they can barely articulate. A faithful adaptation of The Three Musketeers is a noble, quixotic pursuit – not unlike the sensibility of its heroes – and yet there is a reason their worldview stays in the past.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
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