La Fille de d'Artagnan

A fun French comedy/adventure flick which resurrects the "Three Musketeers" and creates a beautiful daughter, Eloise, (Marceau) for an aging, portly D'Artagnan. The plot is a tad convoluted with subtitles which use some archaic English and nonstop dialogue making the story a bit of a challenge for non-French speakers to keep up with. Nonetheless, the 2+ hour run is full of swashbuckling adventures, funny antics, comedic dialogue, and the beautiful European countryside with misty moors, autumn forests, castles and all those things we love about Euro-period films.

Though I am not a fan of French Cinema in general, I am a huge fan of Sophie Marceau. Ever since I first saw her in Braveheart, I have tried to find every movie she has been in, whatever country it was produced in. In "Fille de d'Dartagnan" (which was released on video under the hideous title "Revenge of the Musketeers")the beautiful Sophie plays Eloise, the daughter of the legendary Gascon d'Artagnan, who leaves the convent in which she was raised to foil a plot to assassinate the young King Louis XIV. Along the way she reunites with her father and his Musketeer cronies who aid her in her quest. This film is a fun,lighthearted swashbuckler, very much in the tradition of Dumas's original stories. It is highlighted by a great serio-comic performance by Sopie herself. Her role as Eloise is a refreshing break from her usual noble heroine parts and adds a new dimension to her repertoire. She isn't bad in the action scenes either. Though I found her amazing sword skills a little hard to believe considering the fact she only left the convent a few weeks before. Did they give combat training to novices in 17th century French convents? I doubt it. That little quibble aside, I recommend this film for fans of action movies and it's a must for Marceau fans everywhere. After seeing this, I can't wait to see her as the new Bond villain. It's gonna be a blast.

This movie must have been at its best at the concept stage. It seems to be a patriotic attempt to remake Lester's Three Musketeers as a French film. The actors are good, and Sophie Marceau is lovely, but Tavernier has no clue how to make an action film. The story rambles incoherently, the pacing is awful, even the action scenes lack tension, and the jokes fall flat. In this genre, DeBroca's Le Bossu is far superior. For a good film with Sophie Marceau, see Police.

As I began to view this film, I had quite a few doubts. Recent "Musketeers" films have been falling flat. I am now very pleased to say that "Revenge of the Musketeers" (U.S. video title) is a solid production, featuring an excellent European cast and fine direction.

Set in the twilight years of the musketeers, the plot focuses on Eloise d'Artagnan (Marceau) and her struggle against perceived plots and conspiracies. When her convent is assaulted, she seeks out her famous father in Paris. There are some comedic moments and decent fight scenes. I was especially pleased to note that Eloise, who was raised in a convent and had no martial training, did not suddenly gain the magnificent fighting prowess of her father. Yes, she does get involved in a number of fights, but the director had the sense to clearly portray her absolute inexperience. Fans of Musketeers films and of swashbucklers in general should give this film a chance. Merely seeing a competent Musketeer film done in the French language alone is a treat.

This has got to be one of the best French films I have ever seen, the subtitles were pretty easy to read and the cast was supurb. A definite must see for anyone who liked Braveheart or Zorro.

The entire cast brought out the adventure and the comedy of the film - Great Swordplay, especially the classical beauty Sophie Marceau. This film deserves plenty of awards, the media should be buzzing about "Revenge of the Musketeers".