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Top Movies Eight Below Date Movie The Pink Panther Curious George Final Destination 3 Firewall Freedomland When a Stranger Calls Big Momma's House 2 Nanny McPhee New Releases Curious George Final Destination 3 Firewall The Pink Panther Date Movie Eight Below Freedomland Something New Failure to Launch When a Stranger Calls Top Celebs Reese Witherspoon Brad Pitt Paris Hilton Mariah Carey Lindsay Lohan Scarlett Johansson Phil Collins Britney Spears Angelina Jolie Jodie Marsh	The Musketeer  Release Date - September 7, 2001  Distributor - Universal Pictures  Duration - 104 Mins  Type - Action/Adventure( Rated PG13 )  Writer : Gene Quintano  Producer : Moshe Diamant, Rudy Cohen  Director : Peter Hyams  Starring : Justin Chambers, Catherine Deneuve, Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea,Tim Roth  Synopsis THE MUSKETEER is director-cinematographer Peter Hyams’ (TIMECOP, END OF DAYS) fresh new take on Alexandre Dumas’ classic adventure tale, The Three Musketeers. Newcomer Justin Chambers stars as D’Artagnan, a dashing swordsman whose courage and willful nature place him at odds with powerful forces in 17th century Paris. A distinguished international cast includes Catherine Deneuve as the Queen of France, Stephen Rea as the enigmatic Cardinal Richelieu, Tim Roth as the conniving Febre and Mena Suvari as Francesca, a fiery peasant girl who claims D’Artagnan’s heart on sight. Legendary Hong Kong action choreographer Xin Xin Xiong (ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA) designed the film’s dazzling fight sequences, mixing eastern and western styles and traditions to stunning effect.  Critic Reviews There are limits to director Peter Hyams and screenwriter Gene Quintano's revisionism: Our hero is still brash young D'Artagnan (former Calvin Klein model and New York native Justin Chambers), drawn to 17th-century Paris by dreams of Musketeerdom. The key figures in the power struggle that he becomes enmeshed in are mostly familiar, including a foppish King Louis (Daniel Mesguich), a Machiavellian Cardinal Richelieu (a bland Stephen Rea), and a nameless Queen of France (Catherine Deneuve), though Quintano sketches Dumas' labyrinthine political intrigues almost laughably broadly. The principal villain turns out to be Rochefort, er, "Febre" (a vibrantly villainous Tim Roth), who, in a departure from his traditional henchman status, shakes off his subservience to Richelieu mid-movie and orchestrates the dual imprisonment of the queen and Lord Buckingham (Jeremy Clyde). Naturally enough, there's only one man who can rally the dispirited Musketeers (whose royal charter has been suspended, as usual) to the rescue of her royal highness. There's nothing here that rivals Richard Lester's bravura treatment of this material (filmed as a single movie but released as two, The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, in 1973 and '74). But The Musketeer is quite handsomely produced, and there's a definite swashbuckling verve to it. Most of the characters have been contemporized, but the actors are engaging. Chambers, who's in almost every scene, blends well with his period surroundings and gives an energetic, committed performance as a more determined, polished D'Artagnan than we're used to seeing. Fellow American Mena Suvari is less convincing as "Francesca" Bonaciuex, his serving grrrl sweetie, who packs a dagger beneath her skirts and delivers feminist assertions like "I'm not made of lace." Neither of them quite manages an accent, French or otherwise, and nearly everyone else is (and sounds) British. Thank heaven for the supporting presence of first-billed Deneuve (still mesmerizingly lovely at 58 — what a Milady she'd have made!) and Jean-Pierre Castaldi (as a decidedly revisionist Planchet, who handles his twin flintlocks like a pair of six-shooters). The much ballyhooed action sequences, choreographed by Hong Kong-trained Xin-Xin Xiong are clangorously exciting. Xiong retains the European style of the swordfights, but gives the action an acrobatic dimension without ever resorting to obvious wire trickery. There are three generally sensational showstoppers: a brawl in a tavern, a thunderous carriage chase (marred by a pointless Raiders of the Lost Ark homage), and D'Artagnan's final confrontation with Febre in what seems to be a wine cellar unaccountably cluttered with enormous ladders. Hyams, acting as his own cinematographer, captures the action effectively and makes consistently atmospheric use of locations in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Throw in an appropriately swelling orchestral score by David Arnold, and it hardly matters that Quintano's simplistic plotting frequently seems like The Three Musketeers for Dummies. In its fast-food way, this is an acceptable addition to the all-for-one canon.   For rating reasons : filmrating.com, mpaa.com                                    For Parents : Parentalguide.com
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