The Man in the Iron Mask Review
by "Ryan Davis" (rjdavis AT shore DOT intercom DOT net)March 18th, 1998
The Man In The Iron Mask
3/17/98
From the writer of Braveheart (Randall Wallace), comes this middle age drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Leonardo DiCaprio. That's right double Leo, he plays the mean king (Louis) and the apparently extremely virtuous Philippe.
King Louis is an evil king, he doesn't feed his people and he sleeps around, to name a few of his transgressions. Guarded by the faithful D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne), who served Louis' father, Louis flaunts his wealth while his people starve. Seeing the injustice of Louis' reign former musketeers Aramis, Athos and Porthos (Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, and Gérard Depardieu, respectively) come up with a plan to expel King Louis from his throne. To do this they must rescue Philippe (Louis' lost twin brother) who has been locked away in a prison, his face locked in an iron mask. If there plan goes correctly they will be able to switch the brothers and no one will know.
Its amazing to me how the story is drawn out for close to two and a half hours, but Randall Wallace manages to do it, although its undeniably slow. The cinematography (Peter Suschitzky) and costumes (James Acheson) and admirable, but not incredible. All four of the musketeers steal the show from young Leo, who plays the twins very unconvincing. The movie is really slow, and although attempts to be as stunning as Braveheart, really doesn't get even close. Bottom Line: Too long and too watered down to reach the quality this one is aiming for, although there a few mildly entertaining scenes.
Grade: C+
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Ryan Davis
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