So let’s be honest, The Three Musketeers is a great story and has been told many upon many times. It might be time to stop already though, but that doesn’t seem to register in Netflix’s mindset. While the streaming giant has had a lot of success lately with the titles it’s been creating and sending out to the general public, it seems to be taking a different tactic on this time-honored story and is already comparing it, in a way, to a Mission Impossible-style theme that might make it a bit more interesting. There’s a small problem with doing such a thing however, as those that hear ‘Mission Impossible’ these days tend to think of a lot of action, a lot of intrigue, and a great deal of danger. While The Three Musketeers has always been represented with a great amount of each quality it’s also easy to argue that it’s not quite on the same level as Mission Impossible when it comes to the action point.
On one hand it’s hard to argue against bringing this story back to light since it is a lot of fun and it does tend to draw interest from some very famous names. If anyone remembers the Disney version from back in the 90s with Chris O’Donnell, Oliver Platt, Charlie Sheen, and Keifer Sutherland, as well as Tim Curry, it was quite entertaining but dulled down to as minimize any frights given to the kids. The story has been adapted many times before that and many times after as it’s been brought to light without the titular heroes being mentioned, such as The Man In the Iron Mask, which also featured a very impressive cast. Plus there was another version that included Logan Lerman and Orlando Bloom, as well as Milla Jovovich. Of course since that one bombed so horribly people don’t mention it quite as much. But the point here is that the story is a lot of fun and does tend to bring forth some of the most famous faces to portray the classic roles that are so well-known in literature and are capable of gaining interest the moment that someone hears about them.
But here’s where it gets easier to argue with the reasoning behind actually bringing the story to Netflix. As you may have already seen Netflix doesn’t really have any problem with signing big names to their films and series. After all Sandra Bullock just did Bird Box and stars like Jason Bateman and Laura Linney did Ozark and both projects were met with a good deal of enthusiasm. But for something like The Three Musketeers the roles would require those that aren’t just fit for the part, they tend to require those that are almost over the top but not quite. Logan Lerman might have been suited for the role of D’artagnan, but he still wasn’t quite the right person, Oliver Platt was a great Porthos, and in truth had he been allowed to be just a bit darker in nature he could have been perfect. But for Netflix there is going to need to be a blend of dark humor as well as sincerity it would seem to make the whole thing work. If you’ll recall, the Musketeers have almost always been a jovial bunch in their own right, sometimes dour, but usually able to joke in a good-natured way with one another. That seems to be what people like like to see since it grants a slight pause from the fighting and serious nature of the movie and gives the ability to be light and airy where it’s needed. Otherwise the story can get just a bit depressing.
Overall the story is great, but it might be time to give it a rest. Since Netflix is already developing it however that seems like an impossibility for the moment. Though if anyone else is thinking about developing their own version of The Three Musketeers they might want to look over the literature and the movies and shows that have already included the trio, or quartet to be honest, just to see what they’re up against. It’s one thing to continually butcher a story, but it’s another to try and pick the carcass clean before realizing that there’s really nothing left to do with it. The idea is that this story has a lot of room for expansion and can stretch any which way a person wants, but eventually every story has a breaking point and the main purpose can get lost in the creativity of another person’s idea. When that happens the story kind of gets left behind, or at the very worst gets forgotten since the new idea takes over and makes it irrelevant. But that’s just one of the many things that could happen.
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