THE MASK OF ZORRO A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
The young Zorro, played by a perfectly cast Antonio Banderas, improves on the old game of strip poker. He and his fetchingly beautiful costar, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena, engage in strip swordplay in a scene late in the new Zorro movie. As Zorro wins the match, Elena grabs a hat to cover herself just fast enough so that the film can keep its PG-13 rating. If the audience has by then grown tired of this overly long and confusing production, this sensuous sword fight will easily rejuvenate their interest in the movie.
THE MASK OF ZORRO by GOLDENEYE's director Martin Campbell features lavish sets and golden cinematography in addition to swashbuckling action and an uncountable number of explosions. The script by John Eskow and GODZILLA's Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott is the film's low point. So confusing that you may never get straight who is fighting whom and why, the movie is sorely in need of a narrator. They open the movie with a huge block of text which helps some if the audience can remember it all.
The good news is that swordmaster Bob Anderson choreographed the sword fights beautifully. As the press kit notes, he has spent over 50 years in the motion picture industry doing this - his first pupil being the great Erroll Flynn. You'll recognize Anderson's techniques and style.
As the movie opens, Zorro, played by the unlikely action hero Anthony Hopkins, is fighting a hundred men in the town square. The peasants, who view him as their only savior, cheer his every movement. With the athletic agility of the Power Rangers, he jumps and leaps to evade capture.
After he disappears, we learn that in real life he is the wealthy Don Diego de la Vega, who lives in a gadget-laden mansion a la Batman's. When Governor Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) and his men burst in, Zorro's wife is killed and the governor takes Zorro's infant daughter Elena to be raised as his own. Zorro is thrown into prison, supposedly forever.
The movie then jumps twenty years into the future with a vastly changed political situation in California, where the story is set. It is best to enjoy the fight sequences and ignore the bewildering explanations of who is on what side and why. Stick to the basic rule that Zorro and the peasants are good and that anyone with money is bad, and you'll be able to follow enough of the storyline to get you by.
The old Zorro (Hopkins) escapes from prison in order to kill his old tormentor, the governor, but he ends up training a new Zorro (Banderas) instead. Zorro the elder does not bother to teach Zorro the younger about guns. The other side can use them, but Zorros stick to steel.
Banderas with true comedic flair uses great bravado and lots of luck but less than the requisite skill in his first attempts at challenging dozens of men. But like James Bond, the character Zorro most resembles, he eventually becomes even more adept at fighting crowds of men than his teacher.
Most of the story is a rehash of numerous others. Young Zorro, for example, gets to impersonate a priest in the confessional. Elena confesses her impure thoughts about Zorro to the "priest," and, of course, he wants details. There is even a sexy dance scene concocted especially for Banderas to demonstrate his dancing talents. He is showing Elena the latest dance craze from Madrid, you see.
If you love swashbucklers or if you're a Banderas fan, you'll probably want to put the movie in your must-see category. Others can use their own judgement.
THE MASK OF ZORRO runs way too long at 2:16. It is rated PG-13 for some intense action and violence and would be fine for kids around 9 or 10 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 9, said the movie was "really good" and gave it ***. He liked all of the swordplay, but was frightened by such scenes as the realistic pickled head and hand in a jar.
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