Tagged: The Three Musketeers
The (four) Musketeers
From the first I was shocked. You’ve heard me bitch about how movies are always ‘adapted’ beyond control and that the original plot was tampered with unnecessarily. Well, this may not always be the case… I may have been blown away by the simultaneously “true to the book” and “artistic licence and adaptations”.
Flying war ships? Okay! I don’t mind because they have a near chronological story line to the book, and some dialogue almost seems quoted from the original Dumas. Lady Dewinter is basically a version of Alice from Resident Evil only she wears a bigger dress with more lace; but hey she’s still totally evil and you can see why Athos loves her. The whole “you looked at me funny en guard!” thing is still intact. I LOVED IT.
TF didn’t, he said “At first I thought it was written for teenagers, and then I realized, it must have been written by teenagers.” I don’t know if he is aware the books is basically the same thing. Written for teenaged boys about teenaged boys.
Highly entertaining. Lots of cool effects. Beautiful people. And finally, Orlando Bloom is a prissy evil character.
Go watch it.
Moi
PS Also, true to book, the Musketeers only said “All for one, one for all” once in the whole film… awesome.
The Fourth Wheel
(or) WHY THE THREE MUSKETEERS IS A BOOK FOR TEENAGED BOYS
I finished The Three Musketeers over the long weekend, it was marvelous. Marvelous! I loved it. In the beginning of the book, I thought is was a bit … testosteroney. Let me explain.
You there! you looked at me funny, en guard!
You! you spat on the ground I had previously walked on, en guard!
Ahoy! Thou has placed thine eyes on the wench mine eyes are placed on, en guard!
Good sir! You belched and I smelled it, en guard!
Anyone want some wine? Oh, en guard!
You lookin’ at me? En GUARD!
Yo, I feel like hitting something, en guard!
After, or rather, between, all the fighting there is a very male-bondy type relationship with the four good friends. I loved reading about Athos being locked in the cellar of the Inn, and how he and his servant thought the best punishment to the Inn Keeper would be to eat and drink as much as possible until they were released. My kind of revenge, served up in calories.
The women featured in this book are neither too weak nor too strong. (More like fast and loose, cunning and passionate, and strong and opinionated.) There’s a fantastic lady-villan, Lady De Winter. She holds the best line of the whole novel for me.
Kitty: I thought your ladyship was ill. I wanted to help you.
Lady De Winter: I ill? Do you take me for a weak woman? When I am insulted I do not feel ill – I avenge myself. Do you hear?
I think that this is a book for teen boys because I think they would LOVE it. It has adventure, passionate feelings towards women – I don’t know if I love her, but I am mad for her! - and honor. Being an independent man, having friends willing to die for you, eating and drinking great stuff, and being famous for kicking ass. It’s sort of no brainer. I enjoyed it immensely, I just kept imagining what it must have been like for a young little whipper snapper to be gobbling it up under his covers with a flash light. Magic.
I always wondered at the title of this book as it is about four friends. Yes there are three Musketeers in the beginning, but D’Artagnan does (spoiler alert) become one making it four right? AND, no, wait. No that was it.
Ciao
Moi xoxo
