The Three Musketeers- Milady: Eva Green, masterful in ambiguity (review)

In this second part of The Musketeers, Martin Bourboulon improves the good intuitions of the first and nourishes his disheveled plot with audacity. Long live Milady!

D’Artagnan (François Civil) is KO, Constance (Lyna Khoudri) has disappeared, war is near. But what do the musketeers do? Act two then. Efficient and serious, D’Artagnan had fulfilled all the promises announced. This swashbuckling epic was therefore a faithful and dusted-down adaptation of Dumas and offering the incredible cast something to have fun between two perfectly choreographed fights. Perhaps he lacked a little madness, humor or unconsciousness.

That’s good: for this second episode, the team was able to retain the successes of the first, while letting loose the horses a little more. First observation: the Milady of the title is fantastic. Between sexy voluptuousness, blind violence and very calculated duplicity, Eva Green brings the right amount of ambiguity to the character and to the film. But she is only one of the assets of this film which has at least three others – four in total, like the musketeers. Its aesthetics are more luminous at first, richer and more flamboyant than D’Artagnan. Then its speed of execution.

Take one of the film’s high points, La Rochelle. Bristling with cloaked blades, whirling from carts to tables with somersaults, slashing like lightning, the King’s soldiers fight in a smoking sequence shot which will be streaked by the cannon fire of the fleet coming to their aid. Fifteen minutes of great spectacle which passes at the speed of light, and rivets the spectators to their seats.

And then, finally, after an episode centered on D’Artagnan, this second episode multiplies the points of view, the adventures and offers (finally!) a role commensurate with them to Romain Duris and Pio Marmaï. The word end appears on the screen, we ask for more. To be continued then?

The Three Musketeers – Milady. Of Martin Bourboulon. With Eva Green, François Civil, Vincent Cassel… Duration 1h55. Released December 13, 2023.