Post by Power NeXus on Oct 22, 2011 22:59:41 GMT -5
Here, there be spoilers!
The latest, and by far flashiest, movie rendition of the nineteenth century French story, in theaters as of yesterday.
Acting
As I point out in almost all of my movie reviews, I do not pretend to be any kind of expert on acting skill. My untrained eye can usually only recognize the exceptionally good and the exceptionally poor acting. Anything in between looks normal to me. That being said, there is only one actor's performance in this movie that stood out to me in any way... and, I regret to say, it is not for being exceptionally good. Orlando Bloom is a good pick to play an elven archer or a pretty-boy pirate, but he makes one seriously crappy villian. Every line he said sounded laughably fake.
However, he was the only actor whose performance caught my attention. Everyone else was easily adequate in my opinion.
Visuals
Generally good in some parts, shockingly bad in a few other parts.
In general, the visuals and special effects were pretty cool. Cool explosions, camera angles, up-to-date cgi, etc. However, the sets in a few scenes looked horribly fake. They didn't do much to keep the audience from being painfully aware that everything in the environment beyond a certain line was just on a green screen.
However, there were only two or three sets that stood out like that. The rest looked much more natural.
Plot
It's a really, really good thing that this movie wasn't trying to rely on plot. It was nothing more than the basic cookie-cutter plot we've all seen a thousand times. "They're going to fall in love." They fall in love. "She's not actually dead." She wasn't. "She's going to get captured, and the bad guys will use her as leverage against the heroes." Yup.
Absolutely nothing new here, plotwise.
Action Scenes
Really, the only reason to like this movie. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm just a sucker for some good, flashy swashbuckling scenes, which this movie provided in abundance.
(must have something to do with my fandom, lol)
That's why I love the Star Wars prequels (despite the bad rep they often get), that's why I loved Pirates of the Caribbean (except the last two, which were so stupid that even good swordfights couldn't save them), and that's why I enjoyed this movie. I don't care a whole heck of a lot about poorly-made sets and sub-par acting. I just need some decent swordfights, explosions, and damsels in distress to be entertained.
Other thoughts
"You should have apologized to my horse" is the lamest killing line. Ever.
I found it interesting that the 3 musketeers followed a somewhat familiar pattern with their character types. One dark and grim, one agile and dashing, and one strong and boisterous. All they really needed was cape-wearing hammer-wielder to hang out with (instead of that girly-haired pretty boy teenager).
And, really, it seem like one-character was almost tailor-made for me. A swashbuckling former priest who is known for employing agility and stealth in his missions? Heck yeah.
SUMMARY
The Good: Awesome swordplay, generally decent visual effects (with only a couple notable exceptions), generally good acting.
The Bad: A couple of bad sets, one bad actor, and no plot worth mentioning.
6.5/10
Pretty entertaining if you don't expect too much of it.
The latest, and by far flashiest, movie rendition of the nineteenth century French story, in theaters as of yesterday.
Acting
As I point out in almost all of my movie reviews, I do not pretend to be any kind of expert on acting skill. My untrained eye can usually only recognize the exceptionally good and the exceptionally poor acting. Anything in between looks normal to me. That being said, there is only one actor's performance in this movie that stood out to me in any way... and, I regret to say, it is not for being exceptionally good. Orlando Bloom is a good pick to play an elven archer or a pretty-boy pirate, but he makes one seriously crappy villian. Every line he said sounded laughably fake.
However, he was the only actor whose performance caught my attention. Everyone else was easily adequate in my opinion.
Visuals
Generally good in some parts, shockingly bad in a few other parts.
In general, the visuals and special effects were pretty cool. Cool explosions, camera angles, up-to-date cgi, etc. However, the sets in a few scenes looked horribly fake. They didn't do much to keep the audience from being painfully aware that everything in the environment beyond a certain line was just on a green screen.
However, there were only two or three sets that stood out like that. The rest looked much more natural.
Plot
It's a really, really good thing that this movie wasn't trying to rely on plot. It was nothing more than the basic cookie-cutter plot we've all seen a thousand times. "They're going to fall in love." They fall in love. "She's not actually dead." She wasn't. "She's going to get captured, and the bad guys will use her as leverage against the heroes." Yup.
Absolutely nothing new here, plotwise.
Action Scenes
Really, the only reason to like this movie. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm just a sucker for some good, flashy swashbuckling scenes, which this movie provided in abundance.
(must have something to do with my fandom, lol)
That's why I love the Star Wars prequels (despite the bad rep they often get), that's why I loved Pirates of the Caribbean (except the last two, which were so stupid that even good swordfights couldn't save them), and that's why I enjoyed this movie. I don't care a whole heck of a lot about poorly-made sets and sub-par acting. I just need some decent swordfights, explosions, and damsels in distress to be entertained.
Other thoughts
"You should have apologized to my horse" is the lamest killing line. Ever.
I found it interesting that the 3 musketeers followed a somewhat familiar pattern with their character types. One dark and grim, one agile and dashing, and one strong and boisterous. All they really needed was cape-wearing hammer-wielder to hang out with (instead of that girly-haired pretty boy teenager).
And, really, it seem like one-character was almost tailor-made for me. A swashbuckling former priest who is known for employing agility and stealth in his missions? Heck yeah.
SUMMARY
The Good: Awesome swordplay, generally decent visual effects (with only a couple notable exceptions), generally good acting.
The Bad: A couple of bad sets, one bad actor, and no plot worth mentioning.
6.5/10
Pretty entertaining if you don't expect too much of it.
