The Three Musketeers (2011) Short Review: 

Production/Critic: 6.8/10 (fuck historical accuracy overall quality was pretty good but some of the editing/CGI looked off)

Own Enjoyment: 7/10 (enjoyed it more than I thought I would've but it still fell short)

How much would I recommend it to others: 7.5/10 (pretty underrated action flick; perfect if you just want to have an easy, fun movie night)

Wikipedia synopsis: The Three Musketeers is a 2011 period action-adventure film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, and loosely based on Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel of the same title. It stars Matthew Macfadyen, Logan Lerman, Ray Stevenson, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Mads Mikkelsen, Orlando Bloom, and Christoph Waltz. The film is a loose retelling of the novel’s first half, with the addition of clockpunk aesthetics and elements. (My additions: The cast is absolutely stacked like the movie adaptation of Into the Woods. Unfortunately, just like Into the Woods, this movie also has James Corden. Fortunately, he gets told to shut up many times.) 

Would I watch it again? Ok so I have a little something to admit: I have watched The Three Musketeers before. Was it recently? Well, I watched it in theaters when it came out over a decade ago so no. Not recent at all. Does that affect my opinion about this movie? Not that much since I barely remembered anything from it except for the fact that I liked it (at the time I had a little crush on Logan Lerman and was really into the whole Musketeers concept because of Barbie and the Three Musketeers). I haven't seen any other adaptation of The Three Musketeers besides the Barbie one so I can't compare it to anything else, so I'm judging it as a standalone. I think I might watch it again in the future but not as much as other movies I like. Like yes, it's a pretty fun movie and would be part of the Holy Trinity of modern swashbuckling movies (The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean say hi) if it did more. The costumes and overall aesthetic were absolutely stunning (brilliant colors and details), and it was an absolutely BALLER decision to incorporate some clockpunk elements. We need more good movies with clockpunk elements (praying for a clockpunk movie during the Renaissance). The plot itself isn't bad, per se; it's a pretty fun plot and does somewhat follow the book but still felt barebones despite being nearly 2 hours. I think it's because it spreads itself too thin due to the abundance of main characters. Sure, 4-5 ain't that many (minus the antagonists), but we spent not that much time with the OG Musketeers before D'Artagnan was thrown into the mix. It's a shame because the cast is honestly good and gave it their all. I am not a fan of Logan Lerman's accent (slips in and out and not in a good way) and the only actor I had a problem with was Gabriella Wilde as Constance. Not sure if it's because of the writing or just her not being a good actress (banking on the latter tbh) but my god she was stiff as ALL HELL. Whenever she was on screen I was longing for Keira Knightley (the queen of modern period pieces) so FUCKING BADLY. People say that Macfadyen and Mikkelsen were standout performances (and they are!!), but it was Bloom for me (unrelated: Luke Evans and Orlando Bloom look strangely similar in the movie and got kid me confused). He seemed like he had so much fun with the role and I'm disappointed that the movie was negatively received. I would be open to a sequel where they redeem themselves and actually write a good movie so the cast could unleash their full potential. The choreography felt like it was trying too hard to emulate Pirates of the Caribbean, but it didn't work due to the lack of grandiosity (too much slow motion, bland panning, not enough people). I will say the score does make up for it, and it's FUCKING AWESOME; Paul Haslinger did an amazing job!! The CGI unfortunately does not hold up, but it fortunately does not distract from the movie much. Despite its faults, The Three Musketeers (2011) is surprisingly decent and kinda awesome at times.