BradLovesDisney

Wow wow wow wow wow! Iron Mask is a sequel to VIY, a Russian funded movie from 2014, but this time out they had enough money to book Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan among others. It is NOT The Man In The Iron Mask story! It has magic, supernatural elements, a nonsensical meandering plot, lots of bad dubbing (even of English speaking actors), and title cards for at least seven different production companies. It is cuckoo bananas!

King Herod having all the children under 2 killed was not Passover. Passover refers to the leaving of Egypt in the Biblical book of Exodus. King Herod killing children under 2 took place hundreds of years after Passover.

Mr. Gower cabled you need cash, stop. My office instructed to advance you up to twenty-five thousand dollars, stop. Hee Haw and Merry Christmas!

Nutcracker dolls originate from late-17th century Germany, particularly the Ore Mountains. Decorative nutcracker dolls began being popularized outside of Europe after the Second World War, when numerous American soldiers stationed in Germany came home to the United States with German nutcrackers as souvenirs. The Nutcracker ballet was originally produced in 1892 with a score by Tchaikovsky. It became popular in North America during the 1960s. The ballet's protagonist, Clara, shares her name with the aunt in Nutty Christmas (Conchata Ferrel who also played the aunt in Krampus). When MJH has flashbacks to earlier scenes in the movie, they are not just random time-wasters. She is reflecting on how the specific events of ballet mirror her own recent experiences. ...And souldn't he really have cracked the nuts with his teeth?

It was all confusing, but I couldn't stop think about one moment in particular... in the library scene, one character goes to kiss a taxidermy bear, from behind Matthew Lillard opens the bears head by tipping it to the side and kisses the man instead. Then they both act really surprised that that happened. WHAT!? So many questions: Why did Lillard tip the bear head? Was he going to kiss the back of the bear then changed his mind? Why was he surprised when he kissed the other man? What did he expect to happen? Why the <bleep> does the bears head tip sideways??

While the movie as a whole was utterly confusing, it didn't help that Branagh trimmed out three quarters of the story to make room for songs and keep the runtime shorter. Hopefully the play makes a little more sense.