Product: The Musketeer (2001)
Rating: 3.0
Old-fashioned melodrama with Hong Kong-style action scenes
THE MUSKETEER(UK/Germany/Luxembourg - 2001)Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)Theatrical soundtracks: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDSIn 17th century France, a young would-be Musketeer (Justin Chambers) struggles to prevent a plot by Cardinal Richelieu's villainous compatriots to plunge the country into all-out war.Hoping to ring the changes on Alexandre Dumas' famous novel, director Peter Hyams (CAPRICORN ONE) and screenwriter Gene Quintano (COMIN' AT YA!) combine swashbuckling melodrama with newfangled Hong Kong action techniques, though Quintano's half-hearted script fails to bring anything new to the table EXCEPT its action set-pieces. Former Calvin Klein model Chambers is blank but athletic, and he's overshadowed by spirited co-stars Catherine Deneuve (the Queen of France) and Tim Roth (the villain), alongside Mena Suvari (AMERICAN BEAUTY) as Chambers' potential love interest.Hyams' strives to recreate the grime and squalor of the period through careful lighting and décor, though a number of scenes unfold in near-darkness, undermining their dramatic effect. The movie is redeemed, however, by the work of action choreographer Xiong Xin-xin (Yang Hun-hun), a Hong Kong movie veteran with numerous films to his credit (SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON, BLACK MASK, TIGER ON BEAT, WONDER SEVEN, TIME AND TIDE, etc.). He's best known for his recurring role in the "Once Upon a Time in China" series, which may explain why the climax of THE MUSKETEER - a showdown between Chambers and Roth in a room full of stepladders - is basically a replay of the climactic sequence from the first ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991), one of the greatest action set-pieces ever filmed.