Product: The Musketeer (2001)
Rating: 2.0
A Well-Intentioned Miscue
Of all the swashbuckling action movies I've seen, this is, unfortunately, the most horrid one I've witnessed. Using martial arts with French swordsmen sounds like a good idea in theory, but to see it played out onscreen was just unforgiveable. You'd think more time would have been spent on the dialogue than the look of the film. Granted, it comes across as an attempt to be a trendy action flick, but it falls flat due to the acting. Justin Chambers had the look to play D'Artagnan, but he left his emotions at the door. Stephen Rhea was horrible as Richelieu. His delivery was flat and emotionless. Thank God for Tim Roth. He was the only bright spot in this film. You just want to hate the guy for who he is and how crazily mean he is. The action sequences are okay at best, but I wasn't amazed by any of it. The ladder fight sequence was interesting, but it ended kind of unheroically. It's a shame, since Roth did so well throughout the rest of the film. Would I buy it again if given the chance, probably not, but I would rent it...once.