The Mask of Zorro
2.5/4
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher
Rated PG-13 for Some Intense Action and Violence
I got the sense that "The Mask of Zorro" should be a lot more fun than it is. The performances are solid, the action scenes are sufficiently exciting, and the film rarely slows down. And yet, I didn't really enjoy myself all that much. Certainly nowhere near as much as I did when I re-watched "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" a few days ago, which is another movie inspired by serials.
The character of Zorro, like many long-standing heroes, started out in pulp magazines. His first appearance was in 1919 and was written by Johnston McCulley. By day, he's a cultured nobleman by the name of Don Diego de la Vega, but by night he's the adventure hero in black. If that sounds familiar, it's because Zorro was a major inspiration for Bob Kane, the creator of Batman (in an interesting turn of events, Anthony Hopkins, who plays de la Vega in this film, was offered, but turned down, the role of Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman Begins").
Spanish rule of Mexico is at an end. The nobles are leaving, but one, Don Rafael Montero (Wilson), has one more loose end to tie up: killing Zorro (Hopkins), his sworn enemy. With the help of two boys, Alejandro (Jose Maria de Tavira) and Joaquin Murietta (Diego Sieres), Zorro saves the day, but Don Rafael tracks him back to his home where his wife is murdered and his baby daughter is taken to be raised by Don Rafael.
Twenty years later, Diego and Alejandro have become two bandits. They are captured by Captain Harrison Love (Letscher), and Diego is murdered. At the same time, de la Vega escapes from his prison to exact revenge on Don Rafael, who has come back to California...with Elena (Zeta-Jones) in tow. The two meet up, and de la Vega trains Alejandro to take up the mask and become Zorro.
The problem with the film is that it's using an assembly-line screenplay. It's not bad (unlike many cookie-cutter scripts), but it's not very good. The characters are stick figures with little in the way of depth and the plot just isn't very interesting.
It is only the superior efforts of director Martin Campbell, who deserves far more recognition as an action director than he gets, and his cast that save this film. Campbell has a gift for action scenes (he did, after all, direct "GoldenEye," the slightly overrated "Casino Royale" and "Vertical Limit") and the cast appears to be having fun.
Antonio Banderas can do comedy and drama, but he ventures a little too far in both directions (depending on the occasion) for him to be taken as seriously as he needs to be (and the movie is anything but serious). Still, he's a solid Zorro. Anthony Hopkins is clearly enjoying himself as the older Zorro; moments where he doesn't have a look of slight bemusement on his face are few. Catherine Zeta-Jones got her big break here, and she deserves it. She's the ideal female in this type of movie: lovely and innocent, but with a backbone and the ability to hold her own in a fight (I believe that this is the first time that I've seen a sword fight used as foreplay). Stuart Wilson and especially Matt Letscher make for great villains.
There may be too much action in this movie. It's all well done and exciting, but it hurts the film's pacing. That really uncovers the film's problem: the film seems to be created not by character or plot but by what is a necessity in an action movie. The movie contains everything we expect at exactly the right time. And predictability is the death of plot.
So it's not a great movie. At least it's more than passably entertaining.
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher
Rated PG-13 for Some Intense Action and Violence
I got the sense that "The Mask of Zorro" should be a lot more fun than it is. The performances are solid, the action scenes are sufficiently exciting, and the film rarely slows down. And yet, I didn't really enjoy myself all that much. Certainly nowhere near as much as I did when I re-watched "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" a few days ago, which is another movie inspired by serials.
The character of Zorro, like many long-standing heroes, started out in pulp magazines. His first appearance was in 1919 and was written by Johnston McCulley. By day, he's a cultured nobleman by the name of Don Diego de la Vega, but by night he's the adventure hero in black. If that sounds familiar, it's because Zorro was a major inspiration for Bob Kane, the creator of Batman (in an interesting turn of events, Anthony Hopkins, who plays de la Vega in this film, was offered, but turned down, the role of Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman Begins").
Spanish rule of Mexico is at an end. The nobles are leaving, but one, Don Rafael Montero (Wilson), has one more loose end to tie up: killing Zorro (Hopkins), his sworn enemy. With the help of two boys, Alejandro (Jose Maria de Tavira) and Joaquin Murietta (Diego Sieres), Zorro saves the day, but Don Rafael tracks him back to his home where his wife is murdered and his baby daughter is taken to be raised by Don Rafael.
Twenty years later, Diego and Alejandro have become two bandits. They are captured by Captain Harrison Love (Letscher), and Diego is murdered. At the same time, de la Vega escapes from his prison to exact revenge on Don Rafael, who has come back to California...with Elena (Zeta-Jones) in tow. The two meet up, and de la Vega trains Alejandro to take up the mask and become Zorro.
The problem with the film is that it's using an assembly-line screenplay. It's not bad (unlike many cookie-cutter scripts), but it's not very good. The characters are stick figures with little in the way of depth and the plot just isn't very interesting.
It is only the superior efforts of director Martin Campbell, who deserves far more recognition as an action director than he gets, and his cast that save this film. Campbell has a gift for action scenes (he did, after all, direct "GoldenEye," the slightly overrated "Casino Royale" and "Vertical Limit") and the cast appears to be having fun.
Antonio Banderas can do comedy and drama, but he ventures a little too far in both directions (depending on the occasion) for him to be taken as seriously as he needs to be (and the movie is anything but serious). Still, he's a solid Zorro. Anthony Hopkins is clearly enjoying himself as the older Zorro; moments where he doesn't have a look of slight bemusement on his face are few. Catherine Zeta-Jones got her big break here, and she deserves it. She's the ideal female in this type of movie: lovely and innocent, but with a backbone and the ability to hold her own in a fight (I believe that this is the first time that I've seen a sword fight used as foreplay). Stuart Wilson and especially Matt Letscher make for great villains.
There may be too much action in this movie. It's all well done and exciting, but it hurts the film's pacing. That really uncovers the film's problem: the film seems to be created not by character or plot but by what is a necessity in an action movie. The movie contains everything we expect at exactly the right time. And predictability is the death of plot.
So it's not a great movie. At least it's more than passably entertaining.
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