The Mask of Zorro - 8/10 - If you've been following my more recent posts you've probably noticed a general theme of late.
Well, I finally got around to seeing this movie and...it's ok but nothing spectacular. My chief complaint (and I recognize that this is an unfair one born of personal bias) is that neither Anthony Hopkins nor Antonio Banderas sell me that they are worthy successors to Guy Williams as Zorro. There just isn't that almost Spider-man level of playfulness to their portrayal of the character, not to mention Williams was a natural fencer taught by legends in the business. Getting to actual flaws of the movie, though, this movie reminds me a lot of Star Trek Generations: Hopkins completely steals the show as Diego De La Vega, and Banderas' character just isn't interesting enough to care about when he's on screen. Maybe it's just that level of class that Hopkins brought to his role, but I would frequently wish that Banderas would just get off the screen so we could see more of what "Diego" was up to. It doesn't help that the movie also never does a great job of selling why exactly we should care about "Alejandro" and better still why he deserves to be the new "Zorro." He's a dirty thief who got caught, lost his brother in the process, and then decided to seek revenge. Yes, "hero of the people" this one is.
At least this gives the movie a great opportunity to mock him in the process as he is completely schooled by De La Vega, including a incredibly funny sequence where
Alejandro decides to show off and starts whipping his sword around in a frenzy to look impressive, followed by a casual single swing disarm from De La Vega. I could have done without the somewhat excessive sexual undertones throughout the movie as well, though I suppose it's understandable considering the leads.
On the upside, the action is competently staged and the story overall is good and flows well. I also appreciated the nods to previous Zorro works, particularly when De La Vega in disguise assumes the name of "Bernado." Of course, they could have taken that joke even further by having him pretend to be deaf & dumb and speaking in pantomime, but that's just a fanboy request.
: : : :
I've been forewarned about "Legend of Zorro" and so won't be seeing that film, but this is a competent "pass the torch" movie.