Brining and then a light sautee in olive oil. America’s Test Kitchen always gets it right!
Here’s a critical question for the audience member: do anachronisms annoy you? Does “steampunk” raise your hackles?
If so, then you’d best avoid The Three Musketeers (2011). From gross improprieties such as zeppelin-like warships flying across the Channel, to mild outrages resembling the tunnel of darts in Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981), and extending to, according to my Arts Editor, improper costumes (“those costumes are circa Louis XIV, not Louis XIII!”), for the purist this movie may be the proverbial uranium brick too far.
On the other hand, though, if you treasure the deftly delivered clever line, the self-conscious story, and derring-do that, frankly, knows absolutely no bounds, then this version of The Three Musketeers may be right up your alley.
This modern version of the classic tale, while following the general plot of the Dumas story, has a number of problems. The tale is made up of quite the number of characters, and consequently none of them spring to life, despite the enthusiasm of the actors. In particularly, differentiating the eponymous trio is quite the task even for the enthusiastic.
I mentioned the derring-do, and I think the story-tellers made a mistake when they were so unrestrained – D’Artagnan charging and besting something like forty of the Cardinal’s men with hardly any help from his fellows, while entertaining, left me wondering how much further they could push it, if he also wore a red cape on weekends, and who could hope to best him?
But that last question comes up later.
Don’t take it too seriously, and the CGI, while maybe top quality a decade ago, is showing its age today, but it’s all in good fun. If you want some laughs and some silly sword-play, this version of the Musketeers – who, once again, never use a damn musket – is not the worst choice you can make.
