Very well executed

Such a frustrating disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I say this as someone who generally likes the Golden Films Productions animations, my favourites being Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid and Pinocchio. The Three Musketeers is such a timeless story, and I was expecting something decent while not expecting something completely faithful. Is this Three Musketeers completely faithful adaptation-wise? No, though it is far better as an adaptation than Burbank Films Australia's version. Is it the best version? Again no(the 1973 Richard Lester film), though not the worst. The story is charming and adventurous with the basic feel of the story evident in most scenes, and the dialogue doesn't suffer from being too overly-simplified, in fact it is suitably witty in spots. The music is wonderful, with many classical music favourites like Night on Bare Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition, Marche Slave and Lohengrin shown and used to good effect, though the best used was the Charpentier Te Deum, the most fitting to the music of the time period and suitably rousing. The characters I had little problem with, Constance is far less annoying than she is in Burbank's version, the villains are suitably antagonistic and the heroes are engaging. Milady doesn't quite have the haunting quality she does in other versions but is enticing nonetheless. I loved the colour and fluidity of the backgrounds also, the character designs are not as fluid but serviceable at least. The voice work is solid. All in all, liked it very much. 9/10 Bethany Cox