The Iron Mask aka Viy 2 aka lots of things

I was looking through Youtube the other day and came across a trailer for The Iron Mask starring Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or so I thought. It also seems to have Jason Flemyng in it in what appears to be the lead role. And, according to a picture – Charles Dance and Rutger Hauer in one of his final ever performances. How had this slipped past my eagle eye? Then I watched the trailer and it was… well… odd. For a multitude of reasons.

What initially seemed a bit odd

First off, it seems like three movies. I was initially watching something that looked like it is relating to the Man in the Iron Mask with sword fights between Chan and Schwarzenegger and so on and I was waiting for the Three Musketeers to appear. Then it morphed into something akin to Around the World in 80 Days with Jason Flemyng. Just when I was trying to patch the two together, attractive Chinese ladies appear and there is some kind of magical adventure with dragons. I guess I like the idea of all three films, so maybe it will be great I thought.

Secondly, it seems to be simultaneously high budget and low budget. It is as if someone without much movie-making experience and who had just set out to make fun adventure films, had been given a ridiculously huge budget. I don’t want to be mean to anyone involved but if this story was made on a smaller budget, it might achieve cult status.

I initially thought it was a Chinese sponsored movie but then did a bit of research and found a whole new level of what the fuck.

Even more confusingly…

I did a tiny bit of research and started to wonder if this is one of those things that you think you have stumbled upon but in fact, everyone knows about and it somehow slipped past your attention. Happily, that is not the case and most people seem blissfully unaware of the following:

1/ The mere existence of the movie. This may well come as something of a surprise to some. Like me.

2/ This is actually a sequel to a film called Viy – also known as Forbidden Empire. Consequently it is known not just as The Iron Mask but also Viy 2, Viy 2: Journey to China, The Mystery of the Dragon Seal and finally – Journey to China: the Mystery of the Iron Mask. I think that is all of the combinations but it that’s unlikely.

3/ Although the trailer seems to imply otherwise, this is not a Jackie Chan or Arnie film. Apparently, most of their appearance on screen is what occurs in the trailer. It is more of a Jason Flemyng film. How do I know this you may ask?

4/ The Iron Mask (or whatever the hell it’s called) came out in cinemas in Russia and China in August 2019. It didn’t do great. I think the consequence of that non-success and a possible new marketing manager has led to the slightly misleading trailer and change in title.

I just thought I would mention all the above before you witness the wonder of The Iron Mask trailer. Frankly, I am totally going to watch it! For more info here is the IMDB page.