I saw this months ago, and only just realized I’d never mentioned it here.

I thought The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan was fabulous. Maybe I was brain-addled, or drugged without my knowledge, but by the end of the film I felt happy, and satisfied, and excited, and… just wow. I was floating. I really liked this movie. It’s one of the rare movies I’ve seen that made me immediately want to watch it again.

If you hate swashbuckling, swordplay, skullduggery, or the idea of watching a combination spy thriller and political drama full of swordfights set in 17^th century France… clearly we have different tastes.

On the other hand, if any of that sounds fun to you… this might be the best version of The Three Musketeers I’ve seen.

For one, it’s gorgeous.

For another, I’d forgotten how utterly stuffed full this story was. It’s like a grab bag of goodies meant to satisfy nearly any audience: political intrigue, romance, spy games, subterfuge, sword fights, comedic breaks… something for almost everybody. Alexandre Dumas (apparently in collaboration with Auguste Maquet) wrote it well.

Watching this movie, I felt like I could see this story’s origins as a serial. Scenes and confrontations happen in concrete beats, with successive climaxes and lulls giving far more variation in excitement than a more streamlined three act story might offer. Threads are introduced, set aside, plucked on again later in passing, and finally pulled to the fore once again to come to a dramatic head. With the way that these arcs of tension are varied, I feel more aware of the multiple storylines being woven together. I like that. I especially like that as a writer admiring another’s craft.

Little scenes are interspersed throughout. They remind us of the plot threads, but they also serve as a reminder of the full scope of genres this story includes. When there hasn’t been any swordplay for a while, you get a little duel. When there hasn’t been any romance for a while, you’re offered a quick foray into wistful glances and attempted wooing. There are lots of big dramatic moments near the start to whet our appetite and pull us in, and to give us all the context we need in order to be more excited about any given character or flavor of story.

It’s just a damn good time, really, and it’s well made.

What’s more, watching this movie reminded me of what I love about my favorite adventure stories. At their best, I think adventure stories are a superlative blend of blends; most stories blend genres a little bit, and adventure stories are particularly good at blending genres I love. They capture the knife-in-the-back tension of spy stories with their subterfuge and dirty deeds, they capture the magnetic attraction of romantic dramas, they capture the adrenaline pumping thrill of high stakes action movies, and sometimes they capture so much else besides. They’re delicious.

I waited long enough to write this review that I can’t go into spoilerific detail as I wax enthusiastic about specific scenes—oh, except the very first one, which feels like an excellent homage to The Brotherhood of the Wolf (make sure you watch the right cut). Look, there’s just something about a well-executed torchlit fight scene in the rain. It really whets my appetite. There, look, no spoilers for anything that you won’t see within minutes of starting the movie. Don’t worry about me, I’ll just pat myself on the back and let myself out.

Anyway.

If anything I’ve mentioned above excites you, I strongly recommend this movie. You should definitely watch it in French with subtitles (if you aren’t fluent). I have no idea how accurate the costuming is, and I’m not talking about any kind of gender stuff because, well, it’s a modern film but it’s a French film from a story written in the 1840s about characters in the 1600s. It’s cool, and there are cool female characters, but this movie isn’t going to win any prizes for being socially progressive. Oh wait! Porthos is now bi, I enjoyed that.

All I can say is that I was levitating in glee at the end of this movie. I haven’t yet tested whether this experience is repeatable, but I recommend watching just in case it is. I hope you have as much fun as I did.