It's
a shame that this will probably be the film that finally knocks Titanic out of
the top spot. The Man in the Iron Mask is an unnecessarily long, and not terribly
exciting look at the later years of the Three Musketeer's. Very disappointing
coming from writer Randall Wallace who also makes his directorial debut. This
is a far cry from his brilliant, Oscar winning screenplay for Braveheart.
Wallace
does a poor job here. For a swashbuckler, The Man in the Iron Mask lacks the sparks
and spirit that made these types of films so exciting back in the olden days.
This is a low-rent Robin Hood/Three Musketeer's, and those films were nothing
to write home about either.
The
big draw here, will be Leonardo Dicaprio, who plays dual roles. That of an arrogant
king, and his twin Brother who has been hidden away and imprisoned. Unfortunately,
this is Dicaprio's worst performance to date--mostly due to such shallow writing.
If you want to see Dicaprio in top form, watch Basketball Diaries, or his brilliant,
Academy Award nominated performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Or sit through
Titanic again, in which Dicaprio shows the stuff stars are made of.
Rounding
out the cast of A-List stars, are Gerard Depardieu, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich,
and Gabriel Byrne. All do respectable jobs. Aside from their solid performances,
the only other nice thing I can say about this film is that it looks good. The
cinematography, Art Direction, and Score, are all beautiful. Unfortunately, that's
not enough to recommend The Man in the Iron Mask. If Wallace writes another film
like this, chivalry really will be dead!
