Review of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) by Filipeneto — 23 Feb 2018

In this film, based on a novel of Alexandre Dumas, king's musketeers seek to replace the ruthless French king for a twin brother of him, that people don't know and that has been kept secret by state reasons. Directed by Randall Wallace, which also provides the script, has the participation of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gerard Depardieu and Gabriel Byrne.

The script is good and makes an interesting adaptation of the novel. Initially, I had few expectations about the film due to Randall Wallace, who was involved in the disaster that was "Braveheart". In fact, this film is low in historical accuracy, but Dumas also invented quite in his own novel. The recreation of the court environments, costumes and sets, on the other hand, seemed to me more in line with historical reality and also fill the expectations of the audience, showing the splendor of the Sun King's court. Maybe Wallace has taken some positive lessons from "Braveheart" after all. The action scenes were interesting, and the swashbuckler style sword fighting's deserves a positive note. Leo DiCaprio was at the highest level and showed great talent, having to make two characters deeply antagonistic. Depardieu was not bad but not surprised except in humor. His character is the funniest and the actor was perfectly able to play with it and make him funnier. John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne and Jeremy Irons incarnated the deepest and psychologically demanding roles, having made an inspired performance and showing great ability to collaborate with each other. After all, they are all veterans and established actors, they don't have to prove anything to anyone. The soundtrack accompanied the film faithfully and fulfilled her role with style.

Not being, nor by far, one of the best movies I know about this historical period, this film doesn't frustrate the expectations of the public and give him what he wants: fencing, old-fashioned chivalry, dances, the luxury of Ancient Regime and a story that combines, in the right measure, history, romance, drama and action.