The Three Musketeers + One
by Aisha Feranmi
“All for one and one for all”
I’d love to believe everyone is familiar with the story of the three musketeers/inseparables and their excellent friend D’Artagnan who could not join their ranks and serves in the Court instead. Now that I’ve juggled your memory a bit, let’s get into the review. The Man in the Iron Man follows the four friends and the arrogant King Louis of France. After his father’s passing, Louis is forced, per customs, to take on the role of king. He fits every description of a terrible king. Thirsty for war, apathetic towards his subjects, and a big secret that could ruin his reign as king. The Musketeers are now hated and not as Herculean as they once were, during their time of fame and respect. Aramis is now a devoted priest. Athos stays home playing instruments while Porthos is still bedding women but soon gets a mid-life crisis that makes him suicidal and their friend D’Artagnan remains in the Court, ever loyal to the Crown.
I watched this film a million times when I was a kid with no idea what was truly going on. Although, a huge part of the film stuck with me and is what pushed me to watch it as a young adult. I have even stronger emotions towards the plot, dialogue, and brilliant cast. If DiCaprio did not get this role, I’m certain he wouldn’t have been able to break from his lover boy roles. I mean, after his role on Titanic and Romeo and Juliet, who would have thought he’d be able to play a cruel king so perfectly? But this is evidence that he is an undefeated actor. How he didn’t win an Emmy until recently is still a mystery.
Without giving too many spoilers, King Louis has a twin brother, Philippe, who is actually the man in the iron mask. Threatened by his brother’s equal claim to the throne, Louis had him captured and his face hidden between an iron mask to conceal his identity. Unsatisfied with Louis’s reign, the musketeers set out to extricate the second brother and train him to take Louis’ place as king. The plan goes smoothly until D’Artagnan pieces the puzzle together and arrests Philippe once again under the knowledge that he is an imposter and not his King’s blood brother. After the regular movie razzmatazz we know and love, Philippe successfully replaces Louis, but not before another secret is revealed. One belonging to Her Majesty and the fourth musketeer.
Now that I’ve learned how to appreciate films, I see this one from a different perspective, an older and enlightened one. I don’t know what part of me is speaking when I say I love the movie. Is it the little girl that immediately recognized the main actor as the same one she saw in Titanic and was stunned by his ability to play twins in the same room or the young lady who is a Cinephile and Cineaste who respects a good dialogue, plot and character development in films? My only problem is with DiCaprio’s accent. The story takes place in France and you’d expect all characters to have French accents, especially one playing the king of France, but he had his thick American accent and appeared to lay it even thick. Other than that, I do not understand Rotten Tomatoes’ super low rating of the film. To me, it deserves a 7.5 out of 10. A must watch for everyone who loves Historical films.
Running Time: 2h 12m
Genre: Adventure/Action/Drama
Year of Release: 1998
Cast: Leonardo Dicaprio, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Gérard Depardieu and Anne Parillaud.
