On M List of Movie Reviews

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The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)

Rate: 2
Viewed: 12/17

12/17: I put off The Man in the Iron Mask for many years because of one simple reason: Leonardo DiCaprio.

Yep, my worst fears were immediately recognized. As punishment, I was forced to suffer by watching his bad acting. Not only that, I had to see twice of him. My goodness, enough is enough!

I read all of the five books by Alexandre Dumas, and I'm sorry to say this, but I just don't see any of it in the film with the plot not being the same as outlined in The Man in the Iron Mask. The casting of Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu, and Gabriel Byrne as Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan, respectively, is strange.

The most tired movie quote of all time is: "All for one, one for all." In some 3,500 pages of the entire saga, it was uttered only twice. I don't get why every The Three Muskeeters picture has to use this line repeatedly.

At the end, five men are shown running, from ten yards away, toward a gang of musketeers who proceed to fire at them, and they all miraculously survive. Ladies and gentlemen...only in France. Ditto for D'Artagnan throwing a sword in the air to stop the king's assassin dead in his tracks.

All in all, the only reason why The Man in the Iron Mask made a great deal of money at the box office is that Leonardo DiCaprio was fresh off the success of Titanic.

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