by Heather Ols

Jan 25, 2000

This movie was one of the best plotted films I have seen in a long time. I enjoyed every minute of it. I work in a movie theater so I get to see all kinds of movies whenever I want for free and this is definately a movie I would pay to see. The entire movie kept me wanting to see more. When it was finished I did not want to leave my seat, I wanted to see more. Truly a remarkable peice of cinematography.

 

by Jason Whyte

Jan 25, 2000

Ah, spring. Its about that time again when the crap movies arrive in theatres. But this one, for some reason, is getting a "Titanic" like opening. Oh, but wait, it has Leonardo DiCaprio! Oh, never mind then. Debuting on 3100 screens, "The Man In The Iron Mask" is a OK yet wholly lacking experience of the Three Musketeers and King Louis XIV, King of France.

The film opens very strangely, where we happen upon a man trapped inside a dungeon, whose face is encased in a mask. This just happens to be Louis twin brother, Phillipe (both played by DiCaprio), who was whisked away from the kingdom when he was born so Louis could have all the power he wanted. And does he:

Louis' protectors are those good 'ol boys, the three (plus one) musketeers: Athos (John Malkovich), Aramis (Jeremy Irons), Porthos (Gerard Depardieu), and D'Artagnan (Gabriel Byrne, and it is about at this point that I start to wonder how all of these big actors got together in the same movie). All except D'Artagnan hatch a plan to replace the mean King Louis with Phillippe.

The whole film is rather disjointed, cheap and just plain boring. For a 132 minute movie, "The Man in the Iron Mask" should have at least some decent characterization, plot detail, or some hearty visuals and music score. Instead, it wastes time with a dull subplot where Porthos tries suicide naked, which adds at least another ten minutes. Or how about King Louis' wooing of the beautifully breasted Christine, who just out of thin air hangs herself because she thought Louis was a murderer. And the visuals seem all cheap and subdued (especially since it is shot in flat instead of Scope, which is usually a law for these kinds of films), while the music score by Nick-Glennie Smith seems copied out of other costume dramas.

Its minor strenghts include Gabriel Byrne and Leonardo DiCaprio. While the same bratty girls who attended "Titanic" just for this poster boy will no doubt show up for this one (again, the usual "aahs" at the screening I attended), DiCaprio is strong in his dual role and I liked that. It's too bad that the rest of the film hammered away in stupidity.

Grade: C-

Tech Review:

Picture: 2.5 This problematic picture is almost entirely out of focus; the colors are satisfactory but mostly washed out, and the black level looks blue almost the entire time. At first glance it seems to be the individual film print that is to blame, but it sticks through to prove that MGM did a "rush" job on all those 3100 prints.

Sound: 5 The sound does not have the same problem. Although it is only released in dts and Dolby, the dts edition is nothing short of fantastic; it delievered the same dts thrill as "Contact" did. Bass is deep and powerful.

Photography: 1 The reason this grade gets a one is because a costume drama that is synonomus with spectacle is that is has to be filmed in scope. Not to director Randall Wallace, who for some reason shot the works in 1.85:1. If your theatre has ratio bar changers that go from left to right, you will notice the flat ratio throughout, if you have a top down screen, you will also notice it. This is like watching a badly pan-and-scanned video theatrically.

132 minutes. jwhyte2@hotmail.com ICQ# 4339199

 

by Eric

Jan 25, 2000

Good movie Leo is popular so then this movie will be popular.

 

by Jessi Else

Jan 25, 2000

Just so everyone knows (whether all those pre-teen girls out there want to hear this or not), this is NOT just Leo's movie. It is a story that also surrounds the Three Musketeers! I loved it after seeing it. My friends and I couldn't stop talking about it. I've always been interested in the Three Musketeers and this was a good, heroic movie about them. Leo was also very good in it. He had to portray two totally opposite characters in this movie. His performance in the movie was so good. This movie really moved me. It'll make you laugh and it just might make you cry. So be surprised, it's not what you expect. And even if there are a few predictable parts or others that you've heard of, don't worry. The movie will still hold it's own.

 

by Mark O'Hara

Jan 25, 2000

I'm grateful for Hollywood's occasional delivery of a classic. Just like solo artists or entire symphonies locate markets for new interpretations of Berlioz and Bizet, producers procure audiences who want to watch Hugo and Dumas. As a high school English teacher, I'm happy that "The Man in the Iron Mask" will be on the video shelves.

Here's a confession: I once took long looks down my nose at books I considered subliterature, books I would never approve for my students' reports. Now, with the exception of Harlequin-type books (and plainly inappropriate volumes that should never appear in any school), I let my students read what interests them. In my film literature classes, I sometimes make this same compromise, showing a flick like "Independence Day". Hey, it's a sure thing: the kids like it, and it generates good material for a paper on cultural critique. (What kinds of film does our society like? What do we demand be put into films?)

I'm betting "The Man in the Iron Mask" will prove a solid addition to my curriculum. First, Leo DiCaprio is in it (would my students care if I told them he added an "o" to plain old "Leonard"?). Next, the bad guy from one of the "Die Hards," the guy from "Green Card," the assassin from "In the Line of Fire" (whom one kid will connect with "Of Mice and Men" as well -- the sole novel they read in my class this semester). Finally, it has Gabriel Byrne, whom my students would probably not recognize -- except perhaps for a couple of girls who cried through "Little Women" when they were in middle school.

It's Byrne, I think, who turns in the truest performance. His d'Artagnan is noble, loyal almost to a fault. This captain of the Musketeers -- the only main character who is still connected to the king's guard -- adds an inner turmoil that is missing in his friends. In a sense d'Artagnan acts as a foil both to the king and to the ex-musketeers (Jeremy Irons as Aramis, Gerard Depardieu as Porthos, John Malkovich as Athos). The strongest scenes in the film belong to Byrne's character, as when he concocts an escape from prison (one of many in the film).

When he wrote it, Dumas had to be relying on the convention of the buddy book, even better, the reunion buddy book. In the film, the camaraderie between the older musketeers is quickly established, their charcters deftly differentiated for the viewer. Depardieu wins my award for not taking himself too seriously; he enjoys the lusty buffoon Porthos. The others craft fine performances as well. I have to wonder about Malkovich's soft-spoken anger, however; it played well in "A Portrait of a Lady," but when will he pull something different from his toolbox?

I've not yet made up my mind about DiCaprio. He was so strong in the adaptation of Tobias Wolff's "This Boy's Life." "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is another one that holds its own in circles of film critics or in high school film classes. But in "Iron Mask" DiCaprio is only better than average. As King Louis XIV he is believably arch, but as twin-brother Philippe he is straight-faced, naive, uncommitted.

Understand, my students will benefit from viewing this film because, realistically, they'll never read the novel. And who's to say it isn't a valid way to be exposed to great literature? I'm thinking of showing Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" to a class of freshmen, as we no longer have room in our curriculum to read it. So thank you to the mayors of that little city within Los Angeles. My principal at least will like it if I run "The Man in the Iron Mask"; it will seem more appropriate for secondary students than the latest incarnation of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

 

by Jeff Roberts

Jan 25, 2000

The best part of the man in the iron mask would have to have been the casting of the musketeers. It puts a new light on a continuing story of the musketeers after the latest Three Musketeers was in the theater. The story is not only dramatic, but it includes humor, and is not all that unbelieveable. The acting acually does justice to the earlier movies of the musketeers, and I would recommend this film to anyone.

 

by Brad Kasbohm

Jan 25, 2000

The Man in the Iron Mask is a story that has been re-done in many different movies. This is the only version (so far) that I've seen. Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Marvin's Room) stars as the evil/bad king of France, wbo has imprisoned his twin brother (also DiCaprio) and forced him to wear an iron mask. Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Point of No Return, Dead Man) plays the captain of the Musketeers the group that protects the king. He also is kind of an advisor to him. Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Stealing Beauty), John Malkovich (ConAir, Mary Reilly, In the Line of Fire), and Gerard Depardieu (Green Card, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, My Father the Hero) all play ex-Musketeers who decide to replace the king with his imprisoned brother. The movie started out kind of slow and had some bad dialogue to begin with. But towards the end some great music and sword fights and heroic deeds bring the movie back up. The acting was fairly inconsistent, DiCaprio did the evil king part fairly well, but shined a lot more as the imprisoned brother. Jeremy Irons gave probably the most consistent performance but was the least noticable performance. John Malkovich, at points, seemed to have problems being a hero and not a psycho bad guy. Gerard Depardieu had probably the most un-flattering part as the chunky woman obsessed Musketeer. He didn't have a lot of lines but when he spoke it was tough to figure out what he was saying. Plus do we really need to see his butt? Gabriel Byrne, I think, may have given overall the best performance in the movie, playing the Musketeer who has problems trying to decide whether to be loyal to the king or his friends or his own heart. The battle scenes (though not as many as expected) are well done to perfect music and suprisingly enough there are a couple of neat plot twists. So if you are looking for a fun time but not an epic masterpiece this is the perfect movie.
Grade: B+
Rating:PG-13 (sexual content, violence, nudity, some sexual innuendo)

 

by George Jobson

Jun 8, 2003

Fresh from his performance in "Titianic," Leorardo DiCampio gave a good performance in "The Man in the Iron Mask," but the film has a weak delivery. The film deserves more and I didn't get.