Directed by Martin Bourboulon | Written by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, based on the story by Alexandre Dumas | 115 min | ▲▲▲△△ | Crave 

Last year the first part of this French adaptation of the famed Dumas adventure story was engaging without being a whole lot of fun. Maybe I was spoiled by the Richard Lester Musketeer movies as a kid, but what they brought was humour, action, and adventure. The first part of this big-budget two-parter, despite great costumes, sets, and a solid cast, seemed as interested in moody historical drama and mud as it was in buckles to swash.

This time out, we have some new intrigue. D’Artagnan (François Civil) is desperate to save his love, Constance (Lyna Khoudri), who was kidnapped after having witnessed traitors to the Crown. He must team up with Milady de Winter (Eva Green), allied with the Protestant Republicans, to do that — the two of them make a fantastic escape from a castle in the early scenes that sets the stage nicely, the highlight a terrific shot following D’Artagnan over the battlements and into the moat.

It turns out Milady has secrets hidden under her corset and a connection with Athos (Vincent Cassel). We get more castles, more men on horses riding into the wind, and more battle scenes. The choreographed hand-to-hand sequences are, once again, undercut by too much shaky-cam.

That said, they do find room for some humour — the other two Musketeers, Porthos (Pio Marmaï) and  Aramis (Romain Duris) are here mostly for comic relief, with maybe the biggest laugh coming when Aramis tracks down the soldier who impregnated his sister, Mathilde (Camille Rutherford), who despite the baby is headed for the nunnery. What happens to the soldier, well, you’ll just have to watch to find out.

This is a direct sequel to the first in every way that matters, and hits many of the beats of that film with perhaps a little more melodrama and tragedy baked in. We get too little of Vicky Krieps and Louis Garrel as the Queen and King, respectively, and we get even less emotional payoff.

All that said, I was never bored — somehow, amidst all this plotting and scheming and shifting alliances, this series finally locates some fun. I haven’t heard much about a third film, but I hope it’s coming if only because this one leaves things on the kind of cliffhanger you’d expect in a Marvel movie.