The Mask of Zorro

Rating: 3/5

The Mask of Zorro is one of those movies that I used to watch all the time when I was younger, but now that I have rewatched it as an adult, it doesn't seem as special to me as it once did.

Anthony Hopkins plays Don Diego de la Vega, the original Zorro. As the masked crusader, he prevents Governor Don Rafael Montero from executing three townspeople who have done no wrong. Montero is furious that his plan to use the execution as bait for capturing Zorro did not work. He finds out who the real man behind the mask is, and barges into de la Vega's home that night. De la Vega desperately tries to protect his wife and baby daughter, but fails. His wife is killed, and his daughter is taken away by Montero. De la Vega is sent away to prison, and all hope seems to be lost.

Twenty years later, Montero has returned to California and Diego de la Vega has escaped from his capture. An outlaw named Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) is in search of the man who killed his brother and by a chance of fate, he crosses paths with the escaped de la Vega. Diego begins to train Alejandro to become the new Zorro so both men can exact their revenge. Together they will hatch a plan to take down the men who have taken their loved ones away from them.

As I mentioned before, I found myself not enjoying the Mask of Zorro as much as I once had. I hadn't seen it in many years, so perhaps my viewpoint had changed a little. Zorro is definitely not a bad movie, but I just found it to be sillier than I had remembered it to be. It is pretty hard to find any type of superhero movie that doesn't have some slapstick moments, but the Mask of Zorro seemed to use the tactic too much, perhaps as a way to try and balance out the dark storyline of de la Vega and Governor Montero.

The definite highlights of the movie would be the on screen relationship between Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, and of course, any scenes involving swordplay. Both actors bring a vitality to their scenes that give the movie an energetic and sometimes comical romance.

As far as most movie action sequences go, they tend involve guns or fists, so it is refreshing to see a different type of choreographed fighting on the screen. The sword-fighting scenes are the most compelling pieces to the movie, but there is less of it than you would expect in a movie about Zorro.

The Mask of Zorro follows the pattern of your basic superhero origin story. Zorro is not unlike Batman; he possesses no special powers, but becomes a vigilante and brings justice to the world, whether or not the law agrees. Though I may think Zorro has some definite flaws, I still find to be enjoyable. Not one of my favorites, but still fun overall.