A historical epic decapitated by critics avoids the guillotine in streaming

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Everyone knows the story of the Three Musketeers, who have been killed a hundred times in various media. So 1998’s The Man in the Iron Mask chose to take a look at the wider collection of associated stories by Alexandre Dumas in an attempt to give the story as fresh a coat of paint as possible.

It certainly worked out from a box office standpoint, with the landmark $35 million adventure grossing $183 million in ticket sales, but critics were less than enthusiastic. It’s undeniably pleasing to the eye visually and aesthetically, but it’s all very professional and efficient in nature, while the least to expect was surely a striking spectacle and moving sets.

by MGM

A Rotten Tomatoes score of 32% would suggest that’s definitely not the case, all the more disappointing considering the pedigree attached to either side of the camera. Writer and director Randall Wallace earned an Oscar nomination for the screenplay of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, while Leonardo DiCaprio headlined a stacked cast that included John Malkovich, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Laurie, Grard Depardieu and others in supporting roles.

The Man in the Iron Mask, then, is solidly unspectacular and utterly undemanding entertainment, which has been more than enough to hook streaming subscribers over the holiday season. Per FlixPatrol, the utterly uninteresting getaway filled with big hair and even bigger hats became one of the most popular films on iTunes over the weekend, nearly a quarter of a century after a disappointing premiere.

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