Not having read the book, but have having watched the 1993 adaptation, it was interesting noting the similarities and differences between adaptations and deducing the touchstone story elements from the book. This adaptation seemed to be quite liberal in extending current day action devices under the umbrella of DaVinci inventions. This made the film seem more like the 17th century musketeers meet James Bond. This includes a Milady DeWinter who is very much not your just-a-wall-flower, pretty to look at character. Gutsy action packed woman--who still manages very attractive clothing. And the costumes/outfits of the 3 musketeers and D'artagnan are very nice looking, too. If you're looking for period authenticity, this film isn't likely it; but, for a fictitious story excursion, it does the trick nicely.
Logan Lerman ("Percy Jackson" from Percy Jackson, this was his very next film after Lightning Thief) was a surprise to me. So was finding Orlando Bloom in the end credits ("Duke of Buckingham"). I'm not in the habit of looking at the cast list, or even featured actors/actressess, ahead of time. But, maybe I should just look down the list of Orlando Bloom films since I seem to be on a roll of watching them (3 Orlando Bloom films three nights in a row; that's unplanned).
The 1993 version had sections of story needed the first time through the film, but deemed slower parts that I often fast-forwarded through on later viewings; but, it also seemed a much wittier adaptation. I still recall a number of it's lines fondly. ("The cardinal recommends [champaign?] ..." "Porthos, we're in the middle of chase." "You're right. Something red.") This adaptation had less wit, but moved the action along quite a bit. Not likely any fast-forwarding here on a rewatch. Then again, without the wit, there's less of an enticement to watch a 2nd time, at least not right away.
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