Journey To China

It is the sequel to Viy, a 2014 film loosely based on the Nikolai Gogol story Viy.

Viy 2: Journey to China
Chinese theatrical release poster
Directed by	Oleg Stepchenko
Screenplay by	Dmitri Palees Alexey Petrukhin Oleg Stepchenko
Produced by	Gleb Fetisov Alexey Petrukhin Sergey Selyanov
Starring	Jason Flemyng Helen Yao Jackie Chan Arnold Schwarzenegger Yuri Kolokolnikov Charles Dance Rutger Hauer
Cinematography	Ivan Gudkov Man-Ching Ng
Edited by	Arseny Syuhin Petr Zelenov
Music by	Aleksandra Maghakyan
Production companies	Russian Film Group China Film Group Corporation
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	16 August 2019 (2019-08-16) (China) 21 September 2019 (2019-09-21) (Russia)
Running time	124 minutes
Countries	Russia China
Languages	Russian English
Budget	US$48 million
Box office	US$8.7 million

Produced by Gleb Fetisov, Alexey A. Petrukhin and Sergey Sozanovskiy, the film is directed by Oleg Stepchenko from a screenplay by Stepchenko, Petrukhin and Dmitri Palees. The film stars Jason Flemyng and Charles Dance (who reprise their roles from the first film), Rutger Hauer, Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Helen Yao.

Viy 2: Journey to China was released in China on 16 August 2019 by Universal Pictures.

Set in the 18th century, the film follows the continuing exploits of cartographer Jonathan Green as he undertakes a scientific and supernatural journey that leads him from England to China.

Along the way, he discovers Russian Tzar Peter I in prison in the Tower of London under the watch of pugilistic Warden Hook, as his wife Lady Emma discovers the Chinese Princess posing as Jonathan's assistant Chen-Lan.

As Tzar Peter escapes and joins a Russian ship, he tails Lady Emma as she uncovers an imposter robbing the Chinese people while posing as Princess Chen-Lan.

Casting

On 5 April 2015, a press conference was held in Moscow with producers Alexey Petrukhin and Sergei Selyanov, actors Jason Flemyng, Rutger Hauer, and Helen Yao. During the conference, it was confirmed that the filming of the sequel, titled Viy 2: Journey to China, has been started.

Major film stars were planned to appear in the sequel. Initial reports had Jackie Chan, Jason Statham, and Steven Seagal as appearing in the film. In November 2016, it was confirmed that Chan would co-star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Theatrical

The release of Viy 2 in Russia was to be held on 16 August 2018, but subsequently the premiere was postponed to 19 September 2019 while pending censorship approval in China. After the completion of the regulation of issues, the film premiered in China on 16 August 2019.

Viy 2 was released in the Philippines on 20 September 2019 as The Dragon Seal by Pioneer Films.

The film was released in the United Kingdom under the title The Iron Mask on 10 April 2020.

Home media

The film was digitally released on demand and on DVD in the United States as Iron Mask on 24 November 2020.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a score of 22% of 32 critics, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Iron Mask unites Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger for a bizarrely misguided adventure that aims for epic fantasy with unintentionally hilarious results." At Metacritic, which calculated a weighted average score of 32/100 based on 4 reviews, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews".

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a grade C+, saying that "two-thirds of [the film] is funny on purpose" but that it was "eventually dragged down by compounding inertia." Al Horner of Empire Magazine gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote: "It could have been a tantalising coming-together of two icons of action cinema. Instead, The Iron Mask feels oddly anemic." Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote: "We are stuck with endless, weightless green-screen shenanigans involving a dragon whose eyelashes are used to create tea (I think that's right) and a cast of thousands who drift across various CGI landscapes."

Accolades

Arnold Schwarzenegger was nominated at the 41st Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Supporting Actor.