The Musketeer

An historical swashbuckler starring almost nobody famous (except for '...and Tim Roth as...'), directed by Peter Hyams and with fight choreography by a Hong Kong legend doesn't honestly sound promising, but apparently did reasonable enough business. Picking David Arnold for the score does seem an incredibly juicy prospect. Few genres are ripe for such full blooded orchestral writing as romantic, historical, swashbuckling, martial arts, action films. It is therefore a surprise that the resultant score isn't quite as impressive as it might be.
Whatever you say about his writing in general, David Arnold is a dab hand at writing irritatingly catchy main themes and actually seems capable of writing several great themes per score. His Musketeer main theme is unfortunately more than a trifle cheesy, almost to the point of self parody. It is remarkably close to Bill Conti's Masters of the Universe heroic anthem, but has a more romantic sweep. The main theme doesn't actually appear very often, at least not in the way that, say, Williams' Raiders March occurs throughout the Indiana Jones films. There are a few pleasing romantic incarnations, most notably in I Will Find Him, although some of the other romantic music is pleasant, but unremarkable. The lilting guitars of D'Artagnan and Francesca are quite lovely, but somewhat forgettable.

The action sequences are full to the brim of typical Arnold orchestral bluster and orchestral blow outs such as the brief Fight Inn, Jailhouse Ruck (don't you just love the track titles?!) and the thrilling centrepiece, Coach Chase. However, unlike the quite structured action of Independence Day, it often sounds as though Arnold is just marking time. It's certainly not unexciting and there is enough going on as to never become boring (although some may find the bombast tiresome, but no more so than in other Arnold scores), but there isn't a great deal to recall afterward.

The change from apocalypse to triumph from Independence Day, the quasi-exotic sounds of Stargate and the occasional awe and wonder that was about the only decent part of Godzilla, are markedly missing. There is nothing to particularly latch onto, even thought it's undoubtedly more interesting than many other composers would have managed. For action films, Arnold rarely writes anything that pauses too long for breath, but usually manages a defining feature, but that is sadly absent here. Having said all that, it's still a great ride and will probably please those who want another Independence Day, well The Musketeer provides less of the same.