Frankly, because it wasn't made for you.

Everything about this movie defies belief, from the outlandish hairpieces worn by stars Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the fact that it's actually a sequel to one of the biggest hits of all time (in Russia).

This film, a Chinese-Russian co-production, is actually a sequel to the 2014 adventure "Forbidden Kingdom" (or "Forbidden Empire," depending on which country you're in), which featured neither Chan nor Schwarzenneger.

That film starred Jason Flemyng (still best known on this side of the pond for his role in 1998's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") — who also stars in "Iron Mask" as well — as the explorer Jonathan Green. Green is once again embarking on a swashbuckling, seafaring adventure in support (maybe ... it's not always clear) of Russian Czar Peter the Great.

I say this all defies belief, but that's only because we aren't intimately familiar with "Forbidden Kingdom" in the same way Russian and Chinese audiences are. That film, also released direct-to-video here, was an enormous hit out East as the highest-grossing movie in Russia in 2014. All they would need to do is see Flemyng in his own spectacular wig to understand exactly what's going on.

As a result of all this, "Iron Mask" got very little marketing in North America. Instead, it quietly slipped onto streaming services and TV schedules.

Interestingly, the marketing it did receive in North America and the U.K. put Schwarzenegger and Chan front and center — their faces are bigger than Flemyng's on the poster, and they get more screen time in the trailer — despite the fact that their roles in the actual film are brief.

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