Le masque de fer

Had really high expectations from this movie and was highly disappointed after watching it. It is terrible on every level. I dont know how actors like Jackie Chan and Arnold can opt to be partnof such a terrible movie. Being in lock down, in UK watches it as a family on virgin media, paid £6 for it... I can say that was money and time both wasted. 100% horrible

I just watched The Iron Mask

Oh Arnold Schwarzenegger. This drivel is on par with Killing Gunther. I noticed the credits said 'With the special participation of Jackie Chan' I didn't notice Arnold's name outside of listing him as an Executive Producer.

Arnold and Jackie Chan arrive early on, then disappear around the 40 minute mark, and turn back up at the end. His screen time is about 15 minutes if I'm being generous. It could be as low as 10 as he is in a few scenes, but he is not actually on camera. So I'm not sure why Randy was so thrilled with his " substantially bigger roll" he shares most of his scenes on screen with Chan. As for his love of Arnold's hand to hand fighting, I'm amazed if he does not realise that was done with a stuntman/stand in.

I knew what to expect going in, but I was still surprised at 1 minute 22 of 8 studio logos, then we get the opening credits which doesn't feature cast names, but a list of producers, executive producers, co executive producers and co distributors!!

Awful ADR, poor acting, woeful attempts at humour and some poorly executed fight choreography really drag this drown. It does look pretty though.

There's a dragon. There is healing tea growing from the dragon's eyelashes. There are white wizards and dark wizards. There is a princess and a fake princess. Master (Jackie Chan) is imprisoned in London under the warden James Hook (Arnold Schwarzenegger). His cellmate is the Man in the Iron Mask who claims to be Russia's Peter The Great. Miss Dudley is desperate to find her love Jonathan Green (Jason Flemyng) who is traveling with Cheng Lan to China. She's the princess and the daughter of the Master. Miss Dudley tries to free the Master and the Iron Mask.

Well, Jackie Chan and Arnold are only playing minor roles. At least, they get to have one fight. That is almost enough to recommend this. It's the fight that we've been waiting for. If only, it happened two decades ago. As for the main plot, it's a lot of conveniences. It's a little convoluted but relatively easy to follow. It's somewhat bad but not the worst thing in the world. Mostly, I kept wondering why Jackie Chan isn't in the group. It's a big mistake to show the audience Jackie and continue the plot without him.

An unlikely encounter between different cultures

It includes: the Russian iron mask, martial arts experts, pirates, monsters, characters from Mortal Kombat, a dwarf, old Chinese sages, tea leaves, people who fly very high, kosacks who do not speak, enemy brothers, supporting roles which are sometimes there for 15 seconds, a final scene worthy of a Marvel of the fox, very bad villains, very cowardly cowards, dragons and a lot of WTF :)

The script is a bit messy, and feels like you've seen it before. Some main characters have no explanations , and the Deus ex machina are numerous ... Do not watch this film for the screenplay, or to discover something ... No, it's pure entertainment.

And I have seen worse, much worse. If you have a childish soul, and you miss the epic adventure films, with an Asian tendency, this film could please you.

It's really a shame that the English dubbing ruins everything.

To watch on a Sunday evening to have a good time.

Apart from the undeniable charm of silly wigtacular duel of Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, 'The Mystery of the Dragon Seal' has not much to offer. Still, it is competently made and there is something captivating about the nuttiness of it all.