Line #34 Film/TheThreeMusketeers2011


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51iyi0ztwel_ac.jpg]]
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3	''The Three Musketeers'' is a 2011 {{swashbuckler}} film directed by Creator/PaulWSAnderson, loosely based on the novel ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' by Creator/AlexandreDumas. It stars Creator/LoganLerman as D'Artagnan, Creator/MatthewMacfadyen, Creator/LukeEvans, and Creator/RayStevenson as the three Musketeers, and Creator/ChristophWaltz, Creator/OrlandoBloom, Creator/MadsMikkelsen and Creator/MillaJovovich as the villains.
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5	Among the [[DerivativeWorks/DArtagnanRomances many]] films of the novel, it stands out by taking the story into an AlternateHistory setting with elements of ClockPunk. Most notably, it has [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld airships]]. Otherwise, however, it is a surprisingly faithful take on the novel as far as its adaptations go.
6	----
7	!!This film provides examples of:
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9	* ActionGirl: Milady de Winter is now a crackshot and an excellent swordfighter.
10	* ActionizedAdaptation: Not that the original novel is devoid of action, but this movie includes martial arts stunts, airship-to-airship gunfire and the usage of some other innovative weapons. Plus the signature scene of the heroes first fighting together goes from the four of them vs. five Cardinal's Guards to four vs. ''forty''.
11	* ActorAllusion:
12	** Milady doing a MissionImpossibleCableDrop and fighting with GunAndSword. [[Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries Sound familiar?]]
13	** Rochefort wears an eye patch over the same eye Le Chiffre wept blood from in ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006''. Both are played by Mads Mikkelsen.
14	* AdaptationalBadass:
15	** In the novel and most adaptations, D'Artagnan is an excellent swordsman, but he tends to do poorly in close-quarter combat. In this movie, however, he is wickedly good at that too. He even shows off some amusingly out-of-place UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} moves, including a ''tobi juji gatame'' and an ''ippon seoi nage''.
16	** Porthos is portrayed here as a physical powerhouse who can tear out chains off walls. Moreover, he is so skilled at ImprovFu that he doesn't even need a sword to take on swordfighters.
17	** Surprisingly, UsefulNotes/CardinalRichelieu himself is turned into a fighter in this movie, and a sparring scene against four guards at once implies he has little to envy the musketeers themselves in dueling skills. It even hints he might be better at it than his enforcer Rochefort, the film's greatest fighter, given that Richeliu laughs at him for shadow-sparring alone instead of bringing in multiple opponents like the Cardinal does. However, in a subversion, he ends up having no real fighting scenes, instead trusting on Rochefort to do the dirty work.
18	** While Milady de Winter did have some fight scenes in the book, she is made here a full fledged ActionGirl with ClassyCatBurglar overtones.
19	* AdaptationalJerkass:
20	** The Duke of Buckingham is a honorable man in the original book, while this version is much more devious and doesn't play by any rules.
21	** The same treatment is given to Captain Rochefort, who in the novel is a WorthyOpponent that ends up striking a DefeatMeansFriendship with D'Artagnan. In this movie, he is much more ruthless and amoral, as well as a borderline troll CombatPragmatist.
22	** Richelieu is also made more evil, given that his novel version was an AntiVillain.
23	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Athos here is almost a {{Deconstruction}} of his mindset from the book. He is so jaded by his experience with Milady de Winter that [[spoiler:he opines saving the girl is more important than saving France.]]
24	* AdaptedOut: As in the [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993 1993 film]], Monsieur de Treville doesn't appear in the movie. This story gives somewhat of a justification, though, as the point of the film is precisely that the musketeers have been officially disbanded and the titular three are acting entirely by themselves, thus making unnecesary the character of their superior in the force.
25	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: [[spoiler: DoubleSubverted. D'Artagnan is initially willing to sacrifice Constance, saying their mission to save France is more important. Athos encourages him to try to save her so he doesn't become a lonely and bitter man like him after he lost Milady.]]
26	* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Rochefort, who has actually skills to back up his cockiness even when not fighting dirty. In this adaptation, however, he's a beaten at this by Richelieu of all people, who is shown to be a great duelist himself and even taunts Rochefort about his training methods.
27	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Richelieu's galleon-sized airship lands bluntly on top of Notre Dame's bell tower and stays forked there for the next scenes, with the entire cathedral remaining intact in the process. In real life, even if a lot of the airship's weight was being lightened by the balloon's lifting gas, the impact and momentum alone would have been likely enough to wreck the building. (And even after this miracle of physics, we can only hope Richelieu's guards managed to refloat the airship before all the gas left the balloon, as the sheer unlifted weight of the damn thing could end up smashing the cathedral anyways.)
28	* AdaptationalUgliness: Planchet looks just plain in the book, but he is greatly overweight here.
29	* AutomaticCrossbows: Athos uses an interesting variation that features multiple crossbow arms in a radial design.
30	* AvoidingTheGreatWar: This film contains perhaps the earliest example of this trope as far as the time period goes. The villains were trying to start a war among the empires of Europe. While the dialogue focuses on the continent, the idea is still the same, not to mention that a war of the European powers at the time would have likely included colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
31	* BareHandedBladeBlock: D'Artagnen blocks Rochefort's sword with the back of his hand and later catches it. Both feats leave his hand bloody.
32	* BatmanGambit: Richelieu's makes up the plot, so the Musketeers counter with their own KansasCityShuffle; [[spoiler: Milady knows what they'd normally do, [[IKnowYouKnowIKnow and they know she knows]], so they decide to send D'Artagnan in as a decoy to get Buckingham cocky enough to let down his guard so the other musketeers can steal Buckingham's CoolAirship, which they can then use to kidnap Milady, who sure will have the jewels they need because she would never trust anyone else to keep them!]]
33	* BattleCouple: Athos and Milady, before her FaceHeelTurn.
34	* BadassCrew: This version takes this and the PraetorianGuard aspects of the Musketeers played up in other movies up to eleven, so much they're essentially royal special forces or a full-fledged secret service. Also the three Musketeers make up the entire corps, until D'Artagnan makes four.
35	* BeneathNotice: Used to great effect by [[spoiler: Planchet.]]
36	* BigBadDuumvirate: A rare example of Milady playing two sides, ending up as a potential duumvirate with either Richelieu or Buckingham. [[spoiler:She goes with the latter.]]
37	* BittersweetEnding: On the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, this movie ends fairly high on the side of idealism. [[spoiler:Sure, Richelieu's a KarmaHoudini, but his plot failed, the Musketeers have renewed confidence in themselves and their work, and King Louis hints that he's going to start taking his job a lot more seriously]]. However, [[spoiler: Milady's NotQuiteDead, and she and Buckingham are on route to France with [[OhCrap an entire warfleet]]. Of course - Brits may cheer at that!]]
38	* ButNotTooChallenging: The Cardinal mocks Rochefort when he sees him practicing sword-fighting by himself. He makes a tongue-in-cheek observation that the imaginary opponent is always as challenging as one imagines him to be, so as to make victory satisfying, even though victory is guaranteed.
39	* CampStraight: Louis XIII. He exudes a crapload of subtext with D'Artagnan at the beginning of the movie, but it's revealed later on that he is genuinely in love with his Queen, he just CannotSpitItOut. However, historians think Louis may have been bisexual, so he might have been interested in D'Artagnan as well anyway.
40	* TheChessmaster: Richelieu, of course; he also uses ChessMotifs a '''lot''' throughout the movie.
41	* ChewOutFakeOut: the King's first (on-screen) meeting with the Three Plus One Musketeers. Richelieu seethes while the King ''rewards'' them for it.
42	-->"Oh, and, yes, before I forget: no more fighting with His Eminence's guards. [[BaitAndSwitch Or there'll be none of them left.]]"
43	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Richelieu knows full well that Milady is capable of this, being such a WildCard, and reminds her that he's more than willing to see she's RewardedAsATraitorDeserves if she even thinks of betraying him.
44	* CigarFuseLighting: Porthos does this during the assault on the Tower of London.
45	* ClockPunk: The setting predates the [[SteamPunk steam engine]], so... Besides the airships, there's scuba gear and automatic mortars.
46	* CombatPragmatist:
47	** Many, but Porthos stands out among the Musketeers. He only gets his sword out by the final act, smacking enemies around by any number of ways for the rest of the film. After doing the latter throughout an earlier fight scene, the mere act of partly drawing his blade scares the few remaining mooks away.
48	** For the villains, [[TheDragon Rochefort]] takes the cake by far. His first "duel" with D'Artagnan ends abruptly when he shoots him with a pistol the second he turns back around. He tries to do the same thing towards the end.
49	--->'''D'Artagnan:''' Afraid to face me in a fair fight?
50	--->'''Rochefort:''' No, I just don't fight fair.
51	* CostumePorn: Nearly everyone, as it is TruthInTelevision. King Louis and Buckingham's outfits are especially fabulous.
52	* TheDandy: Almost every important character [[CostumePorn sports fancy clothes]] at some point, but King Louis seems the most concerned about them.
53	* DeathByAdaptation: Rochefort dies in the next book, but here he dies at the end of the story, as per the film adaptation tradition.
54	* DisneyVillainDeath: Milady [[spoiler: which turns out to be a DisneyDeath. ]]
55	* TheDragon: Rochefort.
56	* DrowningMySorrows: The Musketeers are doing this after being betrayed by Milady... or they would do, [[BrokeEpisode if they had any money]].
57	* DualWielding: Rochefort employs briefly a classic ''espada y daga'' combination in his final fight with D'Artagnan.
58	%%* EvilBrit: Buckingham
59	* FreezeFrameIntroduction: Each member of the main cast gets introduced with a freeze frame and a title card of the character's name.
60	* TheHeavy: Milady, whose treachery set the whole plot in motion to begin with.
61	* HighDiveEscape: Milady does this rather than be shot on the airship.
62	* HistoricalBadassUpgrade: Leonardo da Vinci (post mortem), Buckingham, and Cardinal Richelieu.
63	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
64	** Duke of Buckingham - from incompetent CampStraight (bordering Camp Bisexual) to Badass MagnificentBastard to rival Richelieu. Being played by Creator/OrlandoBloom certainly helped.
65	** You'd think the same applies to Richelieu, but, looking at the guy's [[MagnificentBastard real-life career]], his plot in this film fits right in.
66	* IHaveThisFriend: King Louis plays this out of embarrassment when having a guy talk with D'Artagnan, who obviously realizes the truth but plays along because it's the King. The latter tries his best with the illusion for most of the dialogue, but after having a ButHeSoundsHandsome joke reversed on him, it's implied he realizes what D'Artagnan has been doing and simply elects to play it to the end for decorum, giving him a little knowing look. This is further shown when they later recall the talk, with the King now giving D'Artagnan a wink and a heartfelt thanking.
67	* IKissYourHand:
68	** Slight {{subversion}} with Richelieu; everyone but the King and Queen has to kiss his ring after an audience, because [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kissing_traditions#Kissing_a_bishop.27s_ring that's what you have to do to a Cardinal]]; he often uses it as a way of letting people know he's done talking to them.
69	** Buckingham amps this up to eleven. Then again, he amps '''[[LargeHam everything]]''' up to eleven...
70	* IKnowYouKnowIKnow:
71	** The break-in at the Tower of London takes this to amusing levels. Milady, who's worked with them in the past, knows their methods, and can give Buckingham the information. They know she knows their methods and will tell Buckingham. She knows they know she knows and will tell Buckingham. [[spoiler:The English capture D'Artagnan, who she knew they'd use to infiltrate while the others acted as decoys, assuming she wouldn't take him into account. Turns out, they knew she'd do that, he's the decoy, and they do something completely different.]]
72	** Cardinal Richelieu and the Queen play a brief battle of this, the latter revealing to be aware of his plans and the former verbally invoking an Evil Laugh.
73	** There are also shades of this in King Louis' and D'Artagnan's talk about love and women, which is hosted under a rather flimsy IHaveThisFriend approach, as the King is implied to realize about the end that D'Artagnan has been merely playing along.
74	** Buckingham and Milday's exchange as she leaves the Tower is also a minor one, with extended pauses and meaningful looks after he tells her he asked her favorite color to see if she could tell the truth. There's an implication he's aware she's at least trying to con him and possibly that he's guessed she's working for the Cardinal (having previously made it clear he knows Richelieu has a spy in his castle), but decides the Musketeers are the more pressing issue. She even gives a shrug of acknowledgement before she goes.
75	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: On a very huge scale - [[spoiler:a galleon-sized airship gets impaled on the largest spire of the Notre Dame cathedral]]!
76	* ItsPersonal: It certainly is with Athos.
77	-->'''Milady:''' You didn't kill Buckingham, but you'll kill me?\
78	'''Athos:''' Yes... I don't hate Buckingham.
79	* KickChick: Milady does several spinning kick feints in her fight scenes. Possibly a reference to the French martial art of savate being already in develipment in the 17th century.
80	* LaserHallway: You might think being set in the seventeenth century means Paul W.S. Anderson won't be able to do another [[Film/ResidentEvil2002 laser hallway scene]] [[Film/ResidentEvilExtinction with Milla Jovovich]]. You would be wrong (it's invisible razor wire).
81	* LeeroyJenkins: Milady with the booby-trapped vault corridor.
82	* LargeHam: Orlando Bloom quite clearly is having a grand old time. Then again, much of the cast looks like they're having a lot of fun. Even ''Milla'', of all people. Intriguingly, Christoph Waltz averts this as Richelieu, a historically prize ham role.
83	* LaymansTerms: When Aramis gives D'Artagnan a ticket, including a TranslationConvention joke.
84	-->'''Aramis:''' Failure to remove animal bowel movements from public area.
85	-->'''D'Artagnan:''' French.
86	-->'''Aramis:''' Your horse took a dump on the street.
87	* LostInImitation: Several elements, including Rochefort's eyepatch and Milady's DisneyVillainDeath, have multiple precedents in earlier film versions but don't appear in the book.
88	* MasterSwordsman: Obviously many, but oddly enough, the CombatPragmatist Rochefort seems to be also the best swordfighter in the film. He dominates his climatic battle with D'Artagnan, who is already easily on par with the Musketeers in skill and beats large numbers of mooks through the film.
89	* MonumentalBattle:
90	** The Musketeers busting D'Artagnan out of the Tower of London. ([[spoiler:Via airship!]])
91	** The airships end up fighting rather close to the Notre Dame in Paris. ([[spoiler: As it turns out, a bit TOO close for one of them...]]) And then, D'Artagnan and Rochefort continue with [[{{Swashbuckler}} swashbuckling]] on its roof.
92	* MonumentalDamage:
93	** The Musketeers' attack on one particular room in the Tower of London must have caused at least some destruction to this part of the building. ([[spoiler:In any case, a lot of fire can be seen when they fly away.]])
94	** Also, the Notre Dame in Paris, at least if some broken off spire tips and shattered roof tiles already count.
95	* NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight: Early in the movie D'Artagnan learns this lesson, and barely survives it, when Rochefort shoots him during their first duel.
96	%%* NoRespectGuy: Planchet.
97	* NonUniformUniform: None of the Musketeers wear matching outfits.
98	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Pretty much everyone in this movie. The only exception could possibly be Creator/OrlandoBloom (him being British in RealLife and all, and [[IAmVeryBritish playing it up even further]]) and the Austrian Christoph Waltz putting on a mild French accent. It could be argued, though, that the accents are a TranslationConvention: most Parisian characters speak in [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents Received Pronunciation English accents]], while D'artagnan, a Gascon, has Creator/LoganLerman's American accent, as does his father, despite the latter being played by British actor Dexter Fletcher.
99	* NotMyDriver: Milady is captured after Planchet takes the place of her coach driver.
100	* OfCorsetsSexy: Pretty much every female character sports a push-up corset
101	* PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo: At the beginning; turns out the poison was on the ''goblets''...
102	* PraetorianGuard: Both the Musketeers and Cardinal's Guards.
103	* PragmaticAdaptation:
104	** Surprisingly, [[TrailersAlwaysLie in spite of what the trailers implied]], once one gets past stuff like the [[CoolAirship Da Vinci-designed airships]] added for RuleOfCool, the movie follows the plot of the original book relatively closely - especially compared to those movie versions that jettison the original plot completely.
105	** That's also used for creation of illusion that [[spoiler:Milady]] and Constance were SparedByAdaptation cause [[spoiler: Constance dies after the beginning of the war with England and Protestants]] and Athos needs [[spoiler:an unsuccessful attempt in killing Milady to justify her execution]]. PragmaticAdaptation meets SequelHook.
106	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Richelieu spars with three {{Mooks}} at once in one scene and does pretty well. A comparison is done with Rochefort, who shadow-fights alone and is mocked by Richelieu for it.
107	* RazorFloss: Part of the security measures in Queen Anne's safe.
108	* RefugeInAudacity:
109	** You're [[spoiler: being hunted by the Cardinal's men in an airship that, whilst [[CoolAirship it is cool]], [[SinkingShipScenario is also sinking a bit]] ]]. What are you gonna do? Why, [[spoiler: crash the ship into the Palace gardens, present the King with a document the Cardinal wrote himself which, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop out of context]], makes the Cardinal seem loyal to the throne, making it impossible for him to actually do anything against you without revealing his own dirty work, of course!]]
110	** Planchet: [[spoiler:dude's threatened with capture, and he just [[BigEater starts grabbing food off a nearby buffet table]].]]
111	* RuleOfCool: Airships, obviously. Exaggerated when one of them gets T-boned by another.
112	* RunningGag: [[ShuttingUpNow Shut up, Planchet!]]
113	%%* SceneryPorn
114	* SequelHook: [[spoiler: Milady survived and Buckingham now has a whole army of airships to fight back.]] Obviously a setup for ''The Four Musketeers''.
115	* SixthRangerTraitor: Milady double-crosses the titular Musketeers, her former partners, leading to their downfall.
116	* SmartPeoplePlayChess: There is a scene where Richelieu plays chess against himself. Milady interrupts him and quickly figures out how to win the game. A bit later, Richelieu plays against Louis XIII and wins easily. Louis XIII is a sore loser and thows the pieces away.
117	%%* SmugSnake: Buckingham.
118	* ShoutOut:
119	** Anderson is a fan of the [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers1973 1973-74 two-part version]] directed by Richard Lester. Like those films, D'Artagnan is introduced sparring with his father, Athos wears all black, and Rochefort has a red outfit with an EyepatchOfPower.
120	** The [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers1993 1993 version]] has Milady dying by jumping to the sea off a cliff instead of being beheaded, which this film recreates by having her jumping to the sea off an airship ([[spoiler:only that this time she survives]]). Also, this film having UsefulNotes/{{Judo}} throws in its choreography might be a reference to that version featuring a Japanese katana master.
121	** Rochefort simply shoots D'Artagnan when the latter challenges him to a duel. This references the [[Film/TheMusketeer 2001 version]], where Rochefort's substitute Febre does the same to Monsieur of Treville.
122	** The famous quote "life is pain, anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something" from ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' is paraphrased.
123	** The contortionist burglary scene is a blatant reference to ''Film/{{Entrapment}}''.
124	** "Apologize to my horse" is taken from ''Film/AFistfulOfDollars'', where it's a mule.
125	** In the practice duel with his son, the elder D'Artagnan (as well as Athos in a short scuffle with Milady) demonstrates the same MutualKill dagger move as an early chapter of Creator/FrankHerbert's ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', to teach him the same lesson.
126	--->"Look down."
127	** During the ActionPrologue, Aramis, sporting a hooded cloak that conceals his eyes, leaps off of a roof in a way that's strikingly similar to ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. The DVD commentary confirmed that this was indeed a reference to the video game.
128	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Constance [[spoiler:and Milady]] both survive in this version.
129	* StockScream: One is heard twice during the attack on the Tower of London, while a WilhelmScream is heard during the battle of the two airships.
130	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: A mook throws his sword at Aramis, but he grabs another mook and shoves him in the way. Aramis then throws his own sword and kills the first mook instantly.
131	* TokenRomance: D'Artagnan and Constance, lifted from the novel.
132	* TruerToTheText:
133	** Despite being a ClockPunk ActionizedAdaptation, the film generally follows the plot of the novel and retains elements that no big screen adaptation since TheSeventies had featured (especially not at the same time), such as D'Artagnan's challenges, the musketeers' hedonism and quirks, the character of Planchet as a lowly servant, the stolen jewels subplot, and all the politicking between France and England, even if tweaked. As odd as it sounds, the film could be at the same time among the least and among the ''most'' faithful adaptations of the novel.
134	** D'Artagnan is 18, and the majority of [[DerivativeWorks/DArtagnanRomances previous adaptations]] (and [[Film/TheThreeMusketeers2023 following ones]] too) had him played by guys in their 30s (the needs for experimented leads prevailed). Here, he was played by Logan Lerman just at the right age (18-19).
135	* UnfoldingPlanMontage: Seen when they break into the Tower of London.
136	* TheUnfought: Richelieu is presented here as a great swordsman, but he never fights personally.
137	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Milady and Arthos both run their {{Unfolding Plan Montage}}s at the same time, overlapping. But while the audience hears all of Milady's plan, Arthos withholds several crucial details from us, and his is the one that succeeds.
138	* WhatIf: Done with gusto. Athos is a total opposite of his personality in the book, being bitter at his state and lecturing D'Artagnan that saving your true love and enjoying your youth is better that having your life ruined by serving the crown
139	* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: When the Duke of Buckingham visits France in his CoolAirship, King Louis immediately asks why he doesn't have one of those things.
140	* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: {{Justified\|Trope}}, as it's revealed to be [[AlternateHistory a secret invention of]] Creator/LeonardoDaVinci.

Context Film / TheThreeMusketeers2011