‘The Fourth Musketeer’ DVD Review
Stars: Jonathan Hansler, Nathan McGowran, Matt Ingram-Jones, Mollie Hindle, Sean Cronin, Ade Dimberline, Morgan Rees-Davies, Richard Ingle, Melvyn Rawlinson | Written and Directed by Steve Lawson
Independent Midlands filmmaker Steve Lawson, who has been exploring rather familiar horror characters in the likes of Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, Ripper Untold and Jekyll & Hyde, is back behind the camera exploring another familiar tale. This time around he’s reaching into the literature of old to explore not another well-worn horror story but a rather more swash-buckling affair with The Fourth Musketeer.
Told entirely in flashback, yes for some odd reason writer and director Steve Lawson decided to frame his entire film in a flashback, The Fourth Musketeer sees an older, wiser D’Artagnan (Jonathan Hansler) recall the story of how he joined the Musketeers to a young man, Phillipe (Nathan McGowran), who himself wants to become a Musketeer – by defeating D’Artagnan in battle. The story goes that anyone who bests D’Artagnan automatically becomes a musketeer.
D’Artagnan’s tale is that of his journey from rural Gascony to Paris, at the behest of his father, where he becomes embroiled in a devious plot between the King’s Musketeers and the Guardsmen of Cardinal Richelieu. The same story we’ve seen brought to life in various different iterations, different interpretations, over the years; and Lawson’s The Fourth Musketeer is certainly a different interpretation.
Much like writer/director Steve Lawson’s aforementioned films, The Fourth Musketeer follows his particular house style – it’s shot on a very low budget, with most of the budget spent on costumes, set design etc. to make this period piece look just like that. A period piece. It’s also set in the least amount of locations as possible, mainly small rooms/sets rather than anything outdoors; which is exactly how Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, Ripper Untold and Jekyll & Hyde were filmed. Which means those looking for an epic swashbuckling adventure a la the previous iterations of the Musketeers story will be sorely disappointed.
Instead, The Fourth Musketeer feels very much like an episode of Jackanory, with D’Artagnan’s story acted out rather than totally narrated; like a stage play of the story would be. This means the script and the performances come to the fore in Lawson’s film. Unfortunately, scenes are dragged out to the extreme, with what should be short conversations becoming monologues, seemingly to pad the time out to accommodate the lack of action. And whilst the characters are well written, the fact that the cast doesn’t have the bombastic, almost “Shakespearean” like acting ability of those that have come before in the classic adaptations or even the charisma of those in the more modern iterations like 1993s The Three Musketeers, means that everything just falls flat – feeling wide of the mark of what anyone would expect from ANY Musketeers movie.
The Fourth Musketeer is out now on DVD from High Fliers.