The Musketeer Review

Peter Hyams` film written by Gene Quintano, plays havoc with the story in order to place D`Artagnan, Justin Chambers, centre stage. The other musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, get fairly short shrift, but, in compensation, there`s a colourful new villain, Febre, a one-eyed monster played with great glee by Tim Roth. Febre is employed by the scheming Cardinal Richlieu, Stephen Rea, to help him wrest the power in France away from the King and Queen - the latter played by an imperious Catherine Deneuve...So given that purists will hate the liberties taken with the story, what makes The Musketeer worth a look? Well, mainly, the fight scenes, which have been choreographed by Chinese martial arts expert Xin-Xin Xiong. And they`re quite amazing, even if they are rather similar to scenes from films like Once Upon A Time In China, which Xiong also choreographed. Swordsmen battle one another as they dangle from ropes suspended from a castle turret and the climactic battle between Chambers and Roth takes place in a barn where ladders are used as weapons for some acrobatic feats which would have amazed Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. The film`s worth a look for that scene alone.