I reviewed the Tyrone Power Mark of Zorro a while back; now it's time to review this one. And, as a bonus, I got to watch it not only with Tanner, but I even got my wife to sit down for this one, as well as Garrett for a while before he fell asleep. And while it will be like pulling teeth to get her to admit it, she enjoyed it.
This movie is exactly what you want in a swashbuckling extravaganza. There's action, swordfights, acrobatics, romance, comedy, and explosions. It's a recipe that's worked since The Adventures of Robin Hood (although that one didn't have explosions), and it worked very, very well here.
In a sense, this one is a sequel as much as it is a reboot. Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins), the original Zorro, is older now and ready to hang up his mask and sword. But stuff happens, and his mortal enemy, Rafael Montero (the outgoing governor of California) figures out who he is. We get a cool fight scene in a burning house, and Diego's wife is killed by one of Montero's men. Worse, Diego is arrested and thrown into prison, but not before Montero takes his infant daughter, Elena, to raise as his own child.
Twenty years later, Montero returns, and Zorro escapes prison to get his revenge. He soon learns that his daughter has accompanied Montero to California, which throws a wrench in his plans. He finds a drunk Antonio Banderas, looking for revenge for the death of his brother at the hands of Montero's main henchman, Captain Love. Realizing that Alejandro (Banderas) is the same kid that helped him at the beginning of the movie, he trains him in swordfighting and courtly manners and turns him into a carbon copy of his younger self; foppish and arrogant as a nobleman, swift, deadly and cunning as a masked avenger.
There's a plot about buying California's independence from Mexico, using gold secretly mined in California that the Mexican government doesn't know about. Alejandro, in his nobleman disguise, finds out about the mine and has to stop the villains from completing their plan and killing all the workers to hide what they've done. Meanwhile, Diego returns to Montero's house to have it out with him, and Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) learns who her real father is.
Big climactic fight scene at the end as both heroes get their revenge, and the innocent workers are saved from the mine explosion. It's very exciting, but the point of the movie isn't the plot; it's in the atmosphere and the set pieces. And oh my, are these good set pieces. The opening scene, the barracks fight, Alejandro's dance with Elena, the infiltration of Montero's mansion, the fight in the barn, the closing battle...it just keeps coming. And it's paced very well, so there is time to breathe between the big moments.
My wife enjoyed the scene in the confessional as well as the dance, and she paid attention through most of the movie. It's rare that we find a movie that we will both like, but this is definitely one of them. We won't watch it again any time soon; she rarely watches a movie more than once. I've seen it at least a dozen times, though.
This is a fantastic movie, one that I recommend to everyone. The only scene that might be questionable for kids to watch would be the fight in the barn between Zorro and Elena, just for the ending. It's played for laughs, and it works, but there is definitely sexual tension throughout the scene. And she ends up topless, although she has strategically-placed bosom-length hair to keep the movie from showing nudity.
Action scenes and swordfighting are a big part of my own writing, so if you want to see how movies like this inspired me, check out my first fantasy novel, The Chronicles of Meterra: Arrival, on Amazon. And support indie writers, because pop culture isn't producing this sort of entertainment anymore.
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