Review - The Three Musketeers (2011 Movie)

I had moderate-to-high expectations for this film. Unfortunately (for me), my expectations were based on a misconception of the tone and nature the director/producer/etc decided to take.

When I first heard the announcement that they were making a new Three Musketeers movie, I was excited. I love the story and have enjoyed a number of fun film and stage renditions. As I heard about the casting decisions and saw early pictures of the sets and costumes, I grew more excited.

Upon seeing additional images and finally seeing the trailer, I grew a little nervous about the direction of the movie, but my excitement level stayed high. I saw the crazy weapons, the flying air ship and the matrix-like slide of Milady through a hallway of projectiles and was a bit worried that they might change this into "Steampunk Musketeers"…but then I decided that if they had intended to make that change, the teaser information out there probably would have focused more on that scale of difference. The second trailer showed quite a bit more of the changes and should have been the giveaway for me...but sadly I never saw the second trailer until I sought it out "after" seeing the movie. Don't get me wrong, "Steampunk Musketeers" could be very fun...but that's not what I went into this film expecting (and no, that's not what this movie is, so don't even let your hopes rise that far).

I didn't get out to see this when it was initially released and somehow I missed any/all press or buzz about the movie. So when I sat down in the theater, I was still largely blind as to what to expect.

Right from the beginning, things took a turn for the "different" and it became apparent that this movie was taking some literary license. I accepted that, after all, I did enjoy the Disney version from the 90s and that has some significant differences.

As the movie progressed, however, I grew more and more disappointed.

Let me first state the positives:

• The casting was great - as I mentioned, upon early news of the film and casting, I was very excited for the actors & actresses chosen. And when given the opportunity, they really made their various roles shine
• The music was engaging - I really liked the score and may even seek out the soundtrack
• The sets were stunning - I thought they did a great job creating Paris.
  • On a semi-related note, during the opening credits and various other parts of the film, they used a sort of "miniature" map with little army/navy pieces marching across the map to each other…I thought this was stylistically very cool
• The costumes were generally pretty good - I take issue with some of the costuming (particularly the crazy back and forth between Buckingham and the Prince…as well as the outrageous dresses of Milady) but generally I thought they were pretty good

Now, I will try to rant without getting to verbose or out of control.

I went into this movie expected (first) an updated version of the classic story of The Three Musketeers. Upon seeing the airship in the trailer, I was a little nervous that this would change, but since I never saw much in the trailer suggesting widespread changes, I wasn't too nervous.

The airships, while a significant change, could have been pulled off as an intriguing inclusion to the story…had they made the story remain compelling.

Where everything fell apart for me was that all of the depth and intrigue just wasn't there. The characters were more like caricatures or archetypes with nothing beneath their thin facades. Even the most intriguing plot elements were glossed over into nothing but a quick/brief bit of dialog or something alluded to by a cursory action.

Instead of the deep, rousing story of political intrigue pitted against honor and courage, I found myself watching a stereotypical hollywood action movie complete with cheesy tongue-in-cheek dialog and over-the-top explosions and fight scenes. The drama and passion of the Dumas tale flew out the window.

Furthermore, the movie kept pulling out one ridiculous scene after another until I wasn't sure if it was trying to be serious or farcical. I kept catching glimmers of the great story but the glimmers quickly faded to be replaced by flash and sizzle.

Instead of a great, classic adventure movie with intriguing characters, great swordplay, and suspenseful twists and turns I found myself watching an over-the-top action film filled with explosions and other loud booms that was trying really hard to be silly while at the same time taking itself way too seriously. The whole experience was very schizophrenic.

Now I will acknowledge, once again, that I went into this expecting the classic story just presented with some new camera effects/costumes/sets/etc. So I guess some of the fault falls on my own expectations.

But when a director calls a movie "The Three Musketeers" and goes to the trouble of advertising it as such, that seems to set my expectations. If the intention was to make an outrageous over the top action film set in ~1700s France…that's great, but don't call it "The Three Musketeers." That just carries too much baggage.

I'm not usually a "purist" and I'm fine with some variation…but this version went a little too far while setting my expectations for only a subtle change. My brother and dad who went with me to see the film certainly had different expectations and came out really enjoying the movie. Which makes me think I'm a little to harsh in my judgment.

What about the rest of you? If you've seen this film, what do you think? Because I came out of the movie very annoyed and generally disappointed. It just felt like a huge waste of potential.


1.5 out of 5 stars

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Review - The Death Cure

I've been looking forward to The Death Cure since I finished The Scorch Trials last year. I have a love/hate relationship with series books like this. I love the added depth and intrigue they bring…I hate it when I'm reading a series that's still being written because then I have to wait for the author to release the next book. :)

This is the third and final book in The Maze Runner series (although a prequel has just been announced). I suppose you could jump in mid-stream but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. There's just too much backstory from the first too books, plus you don't want to deprive yourself of those great adventures.

I'm really a sucker for the new trend in dystopian novels. I have a lot of fun with a hero trying to do all he/she can to not only make the best of a bad situation but to somehow overcome the hopeless and pitiful state of the world.

In this book we are taken to a dramatic conclusion as Thomas and his friends from the Glade try to make sense of the world around them and somehow continue the fight not only for survival but for a future worth living. I loved the line written on the cover: "The time for lies is over." Both of the first two books were filled with so much deceit and confusion that throughout this entire book I still found myself questioning what to believe. Even as events unfolded, I wasn't entirely sure what was real and what might still be a subterfuge.

This book and series pose a lot of questions through the plot and the characters. What is truth? What is good? Can the ends justify the means in any situation? Even in WICKED situations? Who can you trust? Can you trust yourself? I loved the way these questions were explored in depth but never answered definitively…rather, the reader is left to ponder on them and to come to an individual judgment call.

I found the ending of a book a little bit contrived and just slightly disappointing. While I can agree that the ending works, I think I was hoping for just a bit more. Especially after all of the buildup. I think part of the reason this ending may have fallen flat is that I have recently finished up another series that had an ending that was strikingly similar in the way things played out. Don't get me wrong…I'm not crying "foul" (and certainly not implying plagiarism). I honestly think the ending is fine…but I personally wanted more. Though as I think on it, with all of the many problems to unravel in this book, I would be hard pressed to come up with an ending that works as well as this one does…let alone to propose something that might work better.

In the end, I really enjoyed this series and was sad to see it end. I was super excited to hear that a prequel is in the works…not only because it allows me to re-enter Dashner's world but also because by being a prequel it will allow for more focus on those hard questions and provide more insight into how and why decisions were made.

As far as recommendations, I really enjoyed this book and can recommend the series. I will warn readers that the series grows more dark and violent with each book. So if you read the first one and find that some of the concepts are too intense for you, I would suggest you brace yourself before diving into books 2 and 3. But if you enjoy dystopia and/or a good thrilling adventure with a lot of twists and turns, then give this a try.



4 out of 5 stars

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Review - The Good Earth

My sister-in-law recommended The Good Earth after she read it (having found it on one of those "100 best books you must read" lists). I must admit to not knowing much of anything about Chinese history or culture, nor about the author. So I went into this book with a clean slate in terms of expectations.

The writing style is clean and simple while being complex at the same time. The sentence structures were particularly complex with very long meandering sentences. I found myself wondering if the sentence and paragraph style/structure was something of a commentary on Chinese existence as much as the plot and characters.

The characters are intriguing if a little flat at some times. The main character, Wang Lung, is a vivid character with a lot of inner reflection on how life works and how things should be. His wife, O-Lan, is more distanced from us but still has vital importance and as such is very interesting.

The overall story follows Wang Lung's life over many years…from late youth (his wedding) all the way through his death. There is a lot of exploration of Chinese traditions, family structures, social structures and life in general. I've read some commentary on the book that praises the accuracy of the level of detail for early 1900s China. To me it was both refreshing and enlightening to see many similarities between agrarian China and agrarian America. While there are certainly many differentiators, I found myself reflecting on books set around farm/land workers in America or Britain and finding many similarities of tone and feeling.

The uniquely Chinese elements were naturally foreign to me but the author did a great job of providing adequate detail and description to help me understand them easily. I appreciated that these descriptions were not merely expository but came in through natural commentary, internal monologue or action. It enabled me to feel like I was learning something about China without sitting through a social studies lecture.

The story arc certainly had its depressive and frustrating moments. It was heartbreaking to see Wang Lung's livelihood fall apart due to changes in the weather. It was harsh to see him scrape for survival. It was just as (or even more) heart wrenching to see his behavior once times changed and he was able to return to his farming and become very successful. The numerous plot twists that tore at his family made for very interesting reading. I found myself alternately feeling bad for Wang Lung and despising the things he was doing. As the pages turned, I moved between pitying him and praising him.

While this isn't a book I had heard of before and isn't necessarily the type of thing I would seek out, I was glad to have it recommended and I'm glad to have read it. It is a well written book that provides an educational overview of Chinese life while being emotionally stirring and intriguing. It provides many great illustrations of the pain and suffering felt while scraping by at the edge of poverty and striving to overcome hardships…coupled with the difficulties of balancing familial respect with personal self-worth and pride.

I can say that this book certainly wouldn't be for everyone. It's not offensive (at least as far as I can tell with my westernized ideals) but the content and tone could be a barrier to some readers. Comparing it to Western literature, I could see it in a similar vein with John Steinbeck or Thomas Hardy. To me, it felt similar in tone and content. If you're interested in Chinese culture and life, or find yourself intrigued by the realistic hardship of life in the late 1800s/early 1900s, give The Good Earth a try. I think you'll enjoy it.


4 out of 5 stars

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Happy Thanksgiving 2011 - from Okie & JibJab

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

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Review - Rise of the Darklings (The Invisible Order Book 1)

Rise of the Darklings is the first book in a series (of at least 2 books). I received a review copy from Amazon Vine and rom a high level, the premise reminded me a bit of the Spiderwick or Fablehaven and other recent books…you have a young girl, Emily, who is able to see the magical world of faerie/fey creatures living among us. And she has a fun adventure because of this gift of sight. There were a few things that differentiated this book from those series…the first being that this book is set in Victorian England rather than the present day. Added to that is the fact that Emily is a poverty stricken orphan working by selling watercress on the streets.

For some reason, the writing style and/or language rubbed me wrong for the first couple of chapters. I'm not exactly sure what bothered me…whether it was the sentence structure, the semi-internal monologues of the characters or something else. It was a minor quibble but enough of one that through the first ~30 pages, I found myself not really getting into the story because I was distracted by the "feel" of the writing. However, after a few chapters, it felt natural and I was able to be absorbed by the story.

As I mentioned, the concept of faerie/magic creatures co-existing secretly is something that's been very popular lately. The plot and general story arc are creative and engaging and I quickly set aside my fears that this would be a "cookie cutter" book. Young Emily inadvertently finds herself sucked into a war between factions of fey creatures as well as being shown a mysterious society of humans who are seeking out the creatures for some reason (destruction, knowledge, power, something else)?

I personally really enjoyed the intrigue and mystery of trying to figure out which group (humans, fey group 1, fey group 2, etc) could be trusted. Or, if none of them can be wholly trusted (as seems to be the case), which one is telling enough of the truth to unravel the problem of the story.

As the book went on, I loved the layer upon layer of various subplots and foreshadowing. As I neared the end of the book, it became obvious that not everything was going to be wrapped up in this book. Just from the title, it was obvious that there was going to be a sequel, but the way the book ended somewhat surprised me. The book tied up enough of the loose ends to give a generally satisfying conclusion, but it also ended with a pretty dramatic cliffhanger that makes me want to go check out the second book.

The book felt pretty appropriate for a target audience of ~10-12 year olds. Making the protagonist a girl will potentially help appeal to girl readers…while the adventure and the secondary male characters will help boys relate as well. The writing was simple enough to be accessible to younger readers while still having plenty of heavier vocabulary and historical/geographical/etc information to help readers stretch. The violence was fairly minimal and the language was pretty age appropriate though I think there were one or two instances of mild curse words. Overall, I would feel comfortable letting my kids read this.

I went into this book a bit wary that it was going to be the "same old thing" and I finished with the feeling that this is a refreshing fun take on a popular genre. The young characters sometimes felt old beyond their years, but as a middle-grader book, that's somewhat to be expected. The descriptive storytelling and the intriguing plot drew me in and left me wanting more. I definitely look forward to seeing what happens next.



3.5 out of 5 stars

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