The Three Musketeers is a 2011 period action-adventure film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Matthew Macfadyen, Logan Lerman, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelsen, Orlando Bloom, and Christoph Waltz. It is based on Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel with clock-punk elements. The film was released on 1 September 2011 in Germany, 12 October in the United Kingdom and France and 21 October in the United States. It grossed $132 million against a production budget of $75 million and received negative critical reviews, with criticism of its writing, direction, and characters, although its action sequences, score, the performances of Macfadyen and Mikkelsen, and its visual style received general praise.
Plot In Venice, the musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, with the help of Milady de Winter, steal airship schematics made by Leonardo da Vinci. However, they are betrayed by Milady, who incapacitates them and sells the blueprints to the Duke of Buckingham. A year later, D'Artagnan leaves his village in Gascony for Paris in hopes of becoming a musketeer as his father was, only to learn that they were disbanded. At a rural bar, he challenges Captain Rochefort, leader of Cardinal Richelieu's guard, to a duel after being insulted by him, but Rochefort merely shoots him while he is distracted. Once in Paris, D'Artagnan separately encounters Athos, Porthos, and Aramis and, accidentally offending all three, schedules separate duels with each. Athos brings Porthos and Aramis to the duel as his seconds, causing D'Artagnan to realize their true identities. Richelieu's guards arrive to apprehend them, but, inspired by D'Artagnan, the musketeers fight together and win. All four are summoned before the young King Louis XIII and Richelieu urges him to execute them, but Queen Anne is impressed by their bravery and the king decorates them instead. Richelieu instructs Milady, now his accomplice, to plant false love letters among Queen Anne's possessions, and steal her diamond necklace, and take it to the Tower of London in order to frame her as having an affair with Buckingham, which would force King Louis to execute her and declare war on England. By this point, the people would demand a more experienced leader: Richelieu himself. In order to secure her own position, Milady demands that Richelieu declare in written authorization that she is working on behalf of France. The false letters are found and given to King Louis, who is advised by Richelieu to set up a ball at which Queen Anne would be forced to wear the necklace. If she does not, then it will be believed her affair is real, and there will be war. Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting Constance Bonacieux discovers Richelieu's plan and pleads with the musketeers to stop him. They follow Milady and Buckingham to London, while Constance is captured by Rochefort for helping the musketeers to escape from him. In London, Milady tells Buckingham the musketeers have arrived to take revenge on him and exposes to him all their tendencies in battle. D'Artagnan is captured, but he is in fact acting as a decoy following the plan Milady would have expected the Musketeers to follow, allowing his associates to hijack Buckingham's airship and rescue him. Milady's getaway coachman reveals himself as the musketeers' manservant Planchet and delivers her to his masters, who retrieve the necklace from her. Athos prepares to execute Milady for her treachery but is hesitant, and she leaps off the airship, seemingly dying on her own terms. The musketeers depart back to Paris, only to be intercepted by Rochefort in a much larger airship, for Milady had given Richelieu copies of da Vinci's blueprints. Rochefort offers to exchange Constance for the necklace, but captures D'Artagnan and mounts an assault as soon as he retrieves the jewels. His superior airship has the upper hand and severely damages the opposing vessel, but the musketeers use the clouds to rally and counterattack. The fight ends when both ships ram each other, crashing onto Notre Dame. On the roof, D'Artagnan challenges and ultimately kills Rochefort, recovering the necklace in the process. Constance is sent ahead to quietly return the necklace to Queen Anne. The musketeers arrive at the ball and, for the sake of King Louis and his people, lie by claiming that Rochefort tried to sabotage an airship that Richelieu built for them and that they executed him for his treason on Richelieu's permission. To convince the king, Athos presents Milady's authorization, which the former accepts. Richelieu, satisfied, offers the musketeers a place in his guards, but they refuse, and Richelieu vows revenge. Meanwhile, Milady is found alive in the English Channel by Buckingham, who declares his intention to exact revenge as they advance towards France with a massive fleet of battleships and airships.
Cast
Production
Filming locations
Location filming was done in Bavaria with indoor shooting at Babelsberg Studio. Filming locations included:
Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany Burghausen, Bavaria, Germany Herrenchiemsee Palace, Bavaria, Germany Munich, Bavaria, Germany Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany (Alte Mainbrücke, Marienberg Fortress, Würzburg Residence)
Filming Filming spanned 26 August to 9 October 2010. It was filmed with an Arri Alexa camera. A sizeable proportion of the funding came from German sources: $4 million from Bavaria's bank fund (BBF) and film and TV fund (FFF), about $1.3 million from the German Federal Film Board, about $10 million in tax rebate cash from the German film fund, the DFF and $1 million (€800,000) in subsidy financing from the Berlin-Brandenburg Medienboard. The production budget was between $75 million and $90 million.
Soundtrack The soundtrack was composed by Paul Haslinger. British band Take That wrote and recorded the official single entitled "When We Were Young"; it was released on 22 August 2011 in the UK.
Release
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