The Three Musketeers: Milady

I caught this second episode a couple of days after the first one, while the world of Dumas' Musketeers was still fresh in my mind. It picks up very close to the cliffhanger ending of the first, with D'Artagnan (François Civil) in a spot of bother after watching his fancy, Constance (Lyna Khoudri) possibly being abducted, and then taking a club to the head. As with the first episode, this is a fairly dense film, full of 'script' events and a near exhaustive roll call of characters to facilitate. Martin Bourboulon and his writers, Mathieu Delaporte and Alexandre de le Patellière pay their due respects to Dumas by trying to squeeze as much in as possible in a relatively short runtime. And mostly, it works. It's as entertaining as the previous film, albeit with a markedly different tone.

The story continues as King Louis XIII (Louis Garrel) has finally declared war on the Protestant terrorists, camped in La Rochelle on the west coast of France. The Musketeers make their way there, eventually D'Artagnan catches up with them, though his search for Constance is becoming more desperate. On his travails he runs into the nominal lead of this film, Milady (Eva Green), who attempts to seduce him but then abandons him when he's of no use to her. 

The balancing act of making a film with Green in the lead but still allowing time for the 3 + 1 Musketeers to enjoy enough screen time just about comes off, but I thought there probably could have been more of Milady. The first film was subtitled D'Artagnan, and he had the lion's share of screen time, whereas here Milady is off screen for an awfully long time. When she's on it though, she makes the most of it. Her story is one of abuse and hardship and a scene she has with Constance is pretty powerful stuff. In saying this, the centre point of the film is probably the battle at La Rochelle and the surrounding machinations. This is finely tuned action with one standout shot of the Musketeers on horseback galloping along a beach. Top lensing by Nicolas Buldoc (who worked with Denis Villeneuve on Enemy).

Now, depending on the box office (most likely solid), this won't be the last of this series. My hunch is the third will be subtitled Athos, focussing on Vincent Cassel and his...quest. I'd actually push for more of these, at least an episode for Romain Duris' Aramis, maybe as a buddy comedy with Pio Marmaï's Porthos. 

The Three Musketeers: Milady is still showing at the Alliance Francaise French Film Festival around the country (but will likely pop up after the fest finishes. In Perth, catch it at the Palace and Luna cinemas.

See also:

Definitely, the first in this series, The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan (2023 - with the same director) and, sure, Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine (1995), for a young and hotheaded Cassel.