The Mask of Zorro is quite good fun. In this case good fun is enough. The film promises excitement and entertainment and it delivers on its promise. It even gives you two Zorros for the price of one. Anthony Hopkins plays Don Diego de la Vega, Zorro number one. Unfortunately for de la Vega when we meet him his time as a swashbuckling hero is about to be cut short in rather tragic fashion. He loses everything that is dear to him and is tossed into a dungeon. Twenty years later he escapes and plots his revenge. Only by this point he's a little too old for the Zorro stuff. He needs a protégé. Enter Alejandro Murrieta, played by Antonio Banderas. Alejandro, seeking revenge of his own, is raw and uncultured, nowhere near as suave as the original Zorro. And being suave is part of what makes Zorro Zorro. de la Vega will have to teach the new Zorro so much more than how to use a sword.
Conveniently the man who wronged Alejandro, Captain Love, is now the right-hand man of Don Montero, the man who wronged de la Vega. They will take their vengeance together. Of course it's not quite that simple, there are complications. As you would expect in a movie of this sort one of those complications is a stunningly beautiful woman. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Elena, the daughter Montero stole from de la Vega when she was an infant all those years ago. Elena and Alejandro fall for each other because of course they do. Meanwhile there are still those bad guys who need to be dispatched and a plot to steal California which needs to be foiled. This of course will involve sword fights. Many, many sword fights. Hey, it's a Zorro movie, what were you expecting?
The movie greatly benefits from the performances of its three leads. Hopkins is reliably brilliant and clearly enjoying himself in a role which allows him to have some real fun for once. Banderas really grows into the role of Zorro as the movie progresses. He may not be very suave in the beginning but by the end he's quite the charmer. And Zeta-Jones brings a great spark to the proceedings. Elena's not your stereotypical damsel in distress, she gives as good as she gets. Zeta-Jones fits the role perfectly, full of confidence and charisma. Being drop-dead gorgeous doesn't hurt either. Banderas and Zeta-Jones have great chemistry but so too, in a very different way, do Banderas and Hopkins. Everyone plays off one another ever so well. While certainly not as memorable as the three stars the villains play their parts well too. A movie like this needs strong antagonists and here we are not disappointed, these are some truly hissable villains. Captain Love is so over-the-top in his evilness it's a little hard to believe. But the character is based on a real-life figure so give the movie the benefit of the doubt I suppose. Anyhow if you hate the bad guys, and you will, that can only help the movie in the end as you become more emotionally invested. This movie has a lot going for it. Action, drama, romance. A great story, great actors, great visuals, great music. Heroes to cheer, villains to despise. It's certainly not the most serious-minded of films but it's serious enough when it needs to be. Really good swashbuckling fun, that's what this movie is. What more could you want from Zorro?
Conveniently the man who wronged Alejandro, Captain Love, is now the right-hand man of Don Montero, the man who wronged de la Vega. They will take their vengeance together. Of course it's not quite that simple, there are complications. As you would expect in a movie of this sort one of those complications is a stunningly beautiful woman. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Elena, the daughter Montero stole from de la Vega when she was an infant all those years ago. Elena and Alejandro fall for each other because of course they do. Meanwhile there are still those bad guys who need to be dispatched and a plot to steal California which needs to be foiled. This of course will involve sword fights. Many, many sword fights. Hey, it's a Zorro movie, what were you expecting?
The movie greatly benefits from the performances of its three leads. Hopkins is reliably brilliant and clearly enjoying himself in a role which allows him to have some real fun for once. Banderas really grows into the role of Zorro as the movie progresses. He may not be very suave in the beginning but by the end he's quite the charmer. And Zeta-Jones brings a great spark to the proceedings. Elena's not your stereotypical damsel in distress, she gives as good as she gets. Zeta-Jones fits the role perfectly, full of confidence and charisma. Being drop-dead gorgeous doesn't hurt either. Banderas and Zeta-Jones have great chemistry but so too, in a very different way, do Banderas and Hopkins. Everyone plays off one another ever so well. While certainly not as memorable as the three stars the villains play their parts well too. A movie like this needs strong antagonists and here we are not disappointed, these are some truly hissable villains. Captain Love is so over-the-top in his evilness it's a little hard to believe. But the character is based on a real-life figure so give the movie the benefit of the doubt I suppose. Anyhow if you hate the bad guys, and you will, that can only help the movie in the end as you become more emotionally invested. This movie has a lot going for it. Action, drama, romance. A great story, great actors, great visuals, great music. Heroes to cheer, villains to despise. It's certainly not the most serious-minded of films but it's serious enough when it needs to be. Really good swashbuckling fun, that's what this movie is. What more could you want from Zorro?