The Man in the Iron Mask
As Reviewed by James Brundage
Maybe… maybe! It’s just a "me" thing. Maybe my view of movies is warped, changed to a static antipathy by reel after reel after reel, only relinquished every once in a while. Then again maybe the general view of movies is an adulteration upon the actual quality of standard: the old weary critc’s question "Do people like good movies or do people like bad movies?"
I always get like this when I have to tell someone something that wouldn’t rather hear. I say this in as light of a way now as I can, like a doctor over a dead patient. "The Man in the Iron Mask" isnt’ worth the price of a ticket.
The film, which I thought originally would be bad by Rule From the Critic’s Bible #126, An actor never has two critically great movies in a row (of course that one is crap, but …), started to surprise me right off the bat, honestly impressing me with a re-do of Versallies, which so many other films about France failed utterrly in accomplishing. It then delved itself into a rich tapestry of life and made me think, honestly think that the movie would be the surprise of ’98, bringing this terriffing start to a bad year to an end (although on repute I have heard that the movie "Dark City" is the one to see if you are interested in breaking the Bad Movie Binge). Then you brought in the main plot element: The Man in the Iron Mask.
After that it just becomes this dull and repetitious movie, with stupid item after stupid item. You realize how poor the dialogue is, how sadly done the movie is, and how bored out of your gourd you are. This takes about an hour and a half.
But then why, you ask, are so many people coming away from it with a smile on their face? Because the movie is a feel-good movie with a feel good ending, and, as cheap as it is it will end up a hit due to the raw star power of the Oscar-robber DiCaprio, who’s new $20 Million a movie salary matches his power to draw female audiences, should he want, to salivate pavlovian like over a Banana Split at a Governer’s in Maine. Hey, no one ever said an actor couldn’t make two hits in a row (Rule from the Critic’s Bible #127).
Movie Reviews by James Brundage