20 years ago, the idea of seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan co-starring in a movie would have been enough to send any self-respecting fan of the action genre into a state of total meltdown, but the legendary duo’s first collaboration isn’t exactly what longtime supporters of either icon would have had in mind.
Obviously, Schwarzenegger and Chan are 73 and 66 years old respectively, so it would be foolish to expect an action-packed blockbuster reminiscent of their heydays, but after seeing the trailer for Iron Mask, a lot of people would have been left to rue the fact that the Rush Hour star knocked back the chance to join the Expendables franchise.
The co-production between Russian and Chinese studios has arrived on VOD this weekend, although it remains to be seen what kind of audience would be willing to fork over some of their hard earned cash for a movie that looks pretty terrible. Iron Mask faced a difficult road to the big screen and in various territories the flick has been titled Viy 2: Journey to China, Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask, The Mystery of Dragon Seal and just The Dragon Seal.
It didn’t perform particularly well in any of them, though, bombing in China when it hit theaters in August, while it was also briefly released on the big screen in the United States and United Kingdom back in April, but you’d be forgiven for not even noticing. Iron Mask looks to be for diehard Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jackie Chan aficionados only, because based on the footage we’ve seen so far, there’s not a whole lot that would appeal to potential customers sitting on the fence about whether to purchase it or not.
