2001, 1 hr 45 min., Rated PG-13 for intense action violence and some sexual material.�Dir: Peter Hyams. Cast: Justin Chambers (D'Artagnan), Mena Suvari, Tim Roth (Febre), Stephen Rea (Cardinal Richelieu), Catherine Deneuve (Queen of France).

Jeff note: I spent ten hours at work watching the carnage of the terrorist attacks, so on the drive home I decided that a release was necessary. Thus I stopped at the theater and for the first time in five days thought about something other than that for more than an hour.

First, Tim Burton �re-imagined� Planet of the Apes. Now, we�re told The Musketeer is the re-imagining of the Alexander Dumas work depicting legendary French guards of the King in the 17th century. I didn�t care for Burton�s creation; here�s hoping that the latter is more successful . . . Well, at least it�s different in a way that didn�t completely turn me off.

I�ve seen movies panned on �Mystery Science Theater 3000� that had better set-ups in the first five minutes and more professional opening credits than The Musketeer. Director Peter Hyams is not a first-timer - End of Days and Timecop are among the several he�s helmed before � so that�s no excuse. I can only imagine he just didn�t feel like taking too much time for the initial stages of the movie.

Good thing, because it appears that the $50 million budget was saved for the rest, especially the sets, costumes and action sequences, although I still wonder why it took so much money to make the film, and the dough certainly wasn�t due to the low-cost talent.

When your two most recognizable stars are Tim Roth as a bad guy and Mena Suvari (which will still have many asking, �Who?�), then you�ve got to make up for it in other ways. That�s where the Hong Kong-style fights come in mighty handy, and keep the film from being too trite.

The fight scenes are impressive, with tunics and swords flailing about in ten directions at once. Impossible, sure, but it appears so with Jackie Chan and Jet Li as well, so why not? One key to the style of fighting that relates it to the Far East is that the star finds it necessary to go beyond the use of conventional weapons many times, utilizing whatever�s handy, whether it be logs or candlesticks or ladders.

In his big-budget leading man debut, star Justin Chambers, whom I could have sworn was Chris O�Donnell in the trailer (seriously, I kept wondering, �Why would O�Donnell revisit this; is he that desperate for a starring role?�), actually reminds me more of Barry Pepper on screen, in looks and most unfortunately in his stoic acting style. As wannabe Musketeer D'Artagnan, Chambers has moments of charm, meaning the few times he doesn�t resemble a zombie, so it appears that much of the time he�s reading off a cue card behind the camera.

Roth as the Cardinal�s enforcer needs to find a role as a protagonist, and quick. Following memorable evil characters as in Planet of the Apes, he needs to ditch the sneer and try a wry smile with a lovely female companion in a romantic comedy.

Suvari was fine. She�s a cutie, a sweetie, so I didn�t mind her as the love interest. Gee, that�s a ringing endorsement, eh? Well, she�s certainly one of the positives of the film, just not a main draw. A bigger name like Catherine Deneuve could provide that, but the French lady of film (and the only one with any semblance of a French accent) has a small role as the self-reliant Queen.

Overall, The Musketeer isn�t a bad diversion. The acting�s thin and the characters not very memorable, but the action is worth a look and it certainly helped get me out of the world for a couple of hours.

The verdict:

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