The Three Musketeers

It's a brisk, colorful, infectiously charming but instantly disposable Hollywood entertainment. It's fun, like watching kids play dress-up in the back yard -- nothing more, nothing less. Read full review

There is something intrinsically silly in this story, and unless you can find a way to believe in it at some level (even on the level on which Peter Pan believes in fairies), it's just a lot of feathers. Many of them from horses. Read full review

A handsome but pallid affair aimed squarely at a young Disney audience. Those who have never seen a previous "Musketeers" adaptation or a truly exciting Hollywood adventure in the grand style may be swept along, but the mechanical feel of this outing is too evident to ignore. Read full review

It’s packed with swordplay, fast getaways, and heaving bosoms. Read full review

The film's greatest incidental pleasures are its supporting players. From Curry, who plays the loathsome Richelieu with his usual gusto, to De Mornay, who clearly relishes her role as one of history's great femmes fatales, to the dryly menacing Wincott and the luminous Anwar and Delpy, there's always someone or something of interest to watch in this passably entertaining remake. Read full review

Those who have seen Richard Lester's '70s tongue-in-cheek version of the adventure should avoid this one, lest they feel compelled to hurl popcorn and invectives at the screen. Read full review

The Three Musketeers circa 1993 is diverting enough for the non-discriminating moviegoer, but for the real deal check out the '70s classics. [12 Nov 1993, p.5]

Maybe that Hollywood thinks young moviegoers will settle for something not too special -- and so that's all they're going to get. [12 Nov 1993, p.AE15]

They've simply turned the book into an anything-goes burlesque with such a contemporary flavor that even 1990s street slang is permissible. [12 Nov 1993, p.D27]

Dumas' perennial story demands stars of stature or wit - components missing from this candy-bar wrapper of a movie. [12 Nov 1993, p.4D]

Conceived frankly as a product, complete with hit-to-be theme song over the closing credits, this adventure film cares less about storytelling than about keeping the Musketeers' feathered hats on straight whenever they go galloping. Read full review

This is for kids, mind you, it never transcends into farce and even the sheer joy of watching the three of them is overwhelmed by the mundanity of the story and the stereotyping of the fall-in-love-at-first-sight women characters. Read full review

The film's tone wobbles between straight-arrow action and curdled camp. [12 Nov 1993, p.F1] Read full review

Those who like their swashbucklers to resemble, say, the farces of Jim Abrahams and the brothers Zucker, will be in good hands with David Loughery's obvious sight gags and anachronistically "hip" repartee. The only real wit in sight is supplied by Curry, who does what he can to give viewers some respite from the picture's relentlessly giddy brand of schmaltz. [12 Nov 1993, p.L25]

Weakest of the performers is Chris O'Donnell as D'Artagnan. He's certainly young enough to portray Dumas' "Don Quixote of 18," but most traces of D'Artagnan's hot-blooded, big-hearted Gascony traits have been blunted in favor of mere eager stubbornness. [12 Nov 1993]