NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Jorge Guerreiro Let's get some things out of the way first: the costumes and wardrobe were gorgeous, the scenery and settings were very accurate and the portrayal of early XVII century France is true to history. The acting was solid and had some truly above average actors behind the characters. The action scenes were great and historically detailed, with the added bonus of being very well shot.That being said, two things kept me from enjoying this series to the fullest: the abuse of deus ex machina and other plot devices, and the badly written, ridiculously predictable story lines.WARNING - Spoilers coming, so avoid them if you haven't finished watching the series.The evil prime-minister conspiring to overthrow the king was already overused in the 80s, to the point of Blackadder making a joke out of it. That didn't stopped it from happening in many works of fiction over the last decades, but The Musketeers take this TV Trope a step too far with all three prime-ministers being the main villain for the respective season. I dare to say that if we had another five seasons we would have had another five evil prime-ministers. It got old on the second season, let alone the third… Then the erratic, buffoon of a king, Louis XIII... It's no secret that European monarchs weren't always the cream of the crop. The amount of inbreeding between royal houses assured that. But XVII century is not the dark ages anymore, when illiterate kings who raped peasants for sport and could barely speak were common. By this time kings were highly trained in matters of state, literature, diplomacy and warfare.Yet Louis XIII is dumb as a bag of hammers. Not only that, he changes his disposition from episode to episode for no reason. One day he's thankful to the musketeers and the next he can't stand them. One day he loves the queen but then he's cold to her the next week. In other words, he is what the plot (or better, the writers) needs him to be.With that said, barely any character has a story arch or shows any changes over the 30 episodes of the series. Aramis, d'Artagnan, Athos, queen Anne and Constance Bonacieux are the only characters that actually show some character growth. The others pretty much remain static. This is done to a degree that most episodes could be watched randomly, as there aren't ramifications from episode to episode. Sure, the characters acknowledge what has happened before, but it is not shown nor it affects anything.This leads us to the story lines. The threat of the week was the standard format for TV series decades ago. Then shows like Babylon 5, Stargate, Buffy and many others demonstrated that viewers could be expected to follow stories and story arcs for multiple seasons, and that not all television needed to be done in a format where the order in which the episodes are viewed is irrelevant, since nothing ever changes besides the new story of each episode. The musketeers goes back in time and has a format that would have been standard in the 80s and early 90s, with only the final two episodes of the season showing any ramifications for what has happened so far.Finally, everything tends to be presented in black or white. Bad guys are Disney-like villains, good guys are heroes of great integrity and character. There's no grey, no relatable antagonists, no middle ground. The show pretty much tells you for whom to cheer, whom to like and whom to dislike.In conclusion: this show had everything to be great except for the writers. Even though the writing crew changed in the end of the first season, the show remained the same. The writers had great material to work with and they watered it down to a (extremely) dumbed version of what this show could be. I'm still in my 20s and I felt like I was 15 years too old to be enjoying this show. The saddest part is that, when we consider the material written by Dumas, this is almost unforgivable. In other words, the writing was fitting for a cartoon or a Disney Channel show, not for a BBC series.Thus I give it 7/10 because I can't give it 6,5. But it's the lowest 7 that can be given, all thanks to the writing.Watch it if its on, but don't expect anything above average.

nicholls_les Love this series mainly because the characters are so well cast. Tom Burke as Athos, (He looks so much like Stacy Keech if they ever remake Mike Hammer)Howard Charles as Porthos, Santiago Cabrera as Aramis and Luke Pasqualino as D'Artagnan are all pretty much perfect. The other characters are all good especially Ryan Cage as King Louis and Alexandra Dowling as Queen Ann. Tamla Kari is brilliant as Constance and Maimie McCoy brilliant as the slightly schizophrenic villain. Hugo Spear makes a great Treville. Peter Capaldi as Cardinal Richelieu really stands out as the perfect villain and most of the stories are well written and directed.However the early series were the best and the later ones are sometimes silly. Marc Warren was like a cartoon character as Rochefort but at least he tried an accent unlike many in the latest series who have Yorkshire or Manchester accents. Oh for the days when actors could actually act. Rupert Everett makes a go of it but he also comes across as a caricature of every evil period character and is more Dickens than Dumas.Suppoting actors are like a who's who from British TV and they vary in being able to pull off being period characters.But over all this is a very enjoyable piece of escapist TV.

fiona_r_lamb I've just finished watching the second series on Canadian television and unlike other shows (The Fall, Broadchurch) this series was better than the first. Not to say I did not enjoy the first as I did, but the second felt more complex and the characters were given more depth and nuance. Plus, it felt like they had more budget so the sets and costumes improved.However, I the villain, Rochefort (Marc Warren), was not believable - to me he came across as a pantomime villain; all I kept thinking about was the cheeky Cockney chappie he played in Hustle. However, his character did make for a most interesting plot that ran through all 10 episodes.I do enjoy the female roles too. Milady is a villainess but she does have her good points and is a bit of a swashbuckler herself. My favourite character is Constance and happy that she and D'Artagnan were finally married.My daughter did wonder why the Spanish characters (except for the Queen)all have an accent yet the French all sound like they're from London. Hmmm.Finally, have to say how much I enjoy Santiago Cabrera (Aramis) - seriously delicious!

deana_lisi This show is, hands down, the best show I've ever seen. The actors are phenomenal, as are the costumes and filming location of Prague.Santiago Cabrera plays Aramis, and he is the hottest man on TV! He has personality, wit, charm, sympathy, and bravery; it's impossible not to fall in love with him. Luke Pasqualino plays D'Artagnan, and he had big shoes to fill considering the fame of his character. He pulls it off perfectly with a combination of eagerness and capability that are very mature considering that he's only supposed to be in his early twenties, (and he's adorable, too!) Howard Charles plays Porthos, and he fits the role exactly as he should: huge, strong, powerful, loyal, and witty. If you ever need a bodyguard, you can be sure that Porthos is the right choice. Tom Burke plays Athos, and is the most brooding and quiet of them all. He has a sad past with Milady, and cannot let it go and move on...especially when she pops up working for the Cardinal after he thought her dead for five years. Ryan Gage is King Louis XIII, and he's perfect as a young, unsure ruler. Peter Capaldi is an excellent Richelieu; evil plots galore, but not evil in everything...in one episode in particular, he and the musketeers fight for the same cause. It's a shame that he got the Doctor Who role after season 1 and left to do that instead. Tamla Kari as Constance couldn't be any better; the chemistry between her and D'Artagnan is like electricity. When they kiss—REALLY kiss—for the first time, it's the most passionate kiss I've ever seen in my life. Maimie McCoy plays Milady very well…ruthless and seductive, not caring what she needs to do for money, fame, and power. Alexandra Dowling as the queen is sweet and compassionate. Hugo Speer as Captain Treville is the perfect military leader, and Marc Warren as Rochefort in season two…I don't know where to begin. His character is SO EVIL, and the way Marc played him…the deliberate way he walks and talks, and just…everything, you want to kill him but want him to live at the same time because he is just so FASCINATING! So, yes. Watch this show…you will NOT be sorry!