This film, without having read the book, might be seen as a pleasant and enjoyable film full of comedy. Firstly, I did not laugh during all the film. Secondly, I read the book. Whilst the previous films remained relatively faithful to the book, this one differs totally from the book. My favorite character has always been Athos, who was the bravest, and the most intelligent of the musketeers. In the book, he had become a respectable gentleman. When the musketeers began to fight against each other, Athos gave a wonderful speech about friendship. In the film, Athos is just a alcoholic fool who barely retains his prestige. Aramis does not even come back till the end. This film ruined Athos's character. The film should have spent more time on Charles I's execution and how the musketeers fight to save him because we also see a pathetic attempt whereas in the book, they really tried and almost succeeded in saving Charles Ist. I miss Mordaunt so much. He was scary and much more villainous than Justine de Winter. I do not know why the producer felt the need to change the gender of Milady's descendant but if it was just to add a romance between Raoul and Justine, it was ridiculous. We do not see very much Raoul in the book but he seems a nice and intelligent guy. In the film, he was just a fool. The film, instead of adapting Alexandre Dumas's wonderful book, just ruins it. This is really a shame as I appreciated the two films done before.
Review of The Return of the Musketeers
