The man in the Mask is back!!! (The Mask Of Zorro (DVD))

Member Name: T4imbo3107

Product:	The Mask Of Zorro (DVD)
Date:	21/03/08 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining!!!

Disadvantages: You'll want to watch it again after!

To give a brief history, the character of Zorro or El Zorro as he was called in the early days was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 and since the first appearance in comic form; there have been a number of different incarnations over the last 90 years featuring the character of Zorro. From cartoon strips to novels, animated series and live series, Zorro has become a familiar site in most media forms and has been played by many actors including Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Tyrone Power and Guy Williams just to name a few. Looking at the Zorro legacy you can tell how much of an influence the character has been to others. For example Zorro has a secret identity, Diego de la Vega, in much the same way as Superman/Clark Kent has. Zorro relies on his skill and strength using only the weapons of a sword and a whip in the same manner similar to Indiana Jones.

Unlike a lot of other heroes he also has a distinctive calling card. He leaves his mark simply by carving the letter "Z" into whatever he can, whether this is a wall, a man's chest or clothing it is this symbol that not only infuriates the people that Zorro is up against but also delivers them a strong message. A mesasage of hope is given to the people who are suffering. Visually Zorro is different as well, an all black costume worn with a flowing Spanish cape, a flat-brimmed Analusian hat, and a black cowl mask that covers the top of the face and head from the nostril level upwards to hide his identity. It is from this that you can see how this influenced the character of Batman as the similarities are quite obvious.
I found it hard to believe that this was made 10 years ago. The story of the film revolves around Don Diego de la Vega, played by Sir Antony Hopkins. I thought originally that he was a strange choice for the part of Zorro, but having watched the film I now realise just how good he was in the part as you get to see him as Zorro in the beginning and he does radiate a certain stle and panache that really only Hopkins could carry off, also this is mainly due to the plot itself, which at this part of the review I need to explain further.............

The year is 1821, the Mexican Army is on the verge of liberating it's country from Spanish colonial rule. In the land as what we now know as California, the cruel and ruthless Spanish Governor, Don Rafael Montero played by Stuart Wilson, is about to lose everything and be overthrown by the advancing Mexican Army.
In a final desparate effort to trap Zorro, Montero lays a trap by condemning three innocent village men to death. The trap is thwarted by Zorro with assistance from the local village who defend the three men, the village not only idolise Zorro as their champion, but also see him as being the only person who can help them out. Particularly helpful during this incident were two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta who Zorro gives them his medallion as a token of gratitude. Zorro lands in front of Montero and cuts a trademark letter "Z" into his neck and tells him never to return to California. Montero is scared, as Zorro departs on his steed Tornado the crowd cheer him as he leaves the village and rides into the sunset. Montero visits the home of Don Diego de la Vega to arrest him later that evening in front of his beautiful wife Esperanza and baby daughter Elena. Montero discovers Diego is Zorro by discovering a wound on Diego's arm that he inflicted on Zorro earlier that day in the village. A fight ensues between de la Vega and Montero, Esperanza is killed. The family home is then burnt to the ground and Elana snatched. Montero tells de la Vega that she will be raised in Spain as his own and promises not to harm her.

Fast forward 20 years to 1841, Montero returns from exile to California and comes to the prison looking for Diego. Although he is there still servibng his sentence, Montero does not recognize him. Diego then seizes this opportunity to escape with the intent on killing Montero at the first possible chance, but stops when he sees Montero has brought Elena with him, who is now a beautiful grown up lady, played by Catherine Zeta Jones. She arrives on the shores of California for what she believes is the first time and is presented with a bouquet of local flowers. She recognises the scent and enquires as to the name of the flowers. Montero's old friend, Don Luiz, tells her it is Romagna, but that they only grow in California. Later, while walking in a local market, Elena meets a woman who claims to have been her Nanny and that she used to hang flowers on her crib. Elena tells her that she must be mistaken, but the elderly woman disagrees, saying that she could never forget the daughter of Esperanza and Diego de la Vega. This makes Elana start to think about her history.

Diego soon encounters Alejandro Murrieta who has grown up to be a drunken, clumsy bandit, bitter over the murder of his brother. Diego decides that it is time the legacy was passed on and trains him to become his successor of the Zorro legacy. After intense training, he becomes a better swordsman and one eveining Alejandro dressed in a make-shift Zorro costume with what looks like a table cloth wrapped round his head, goes out to acquire a black stallion that will become Toronado. On his way to the inn where the horse is stabled, Alejandro meets Elena by chance and is struck dumb by her beauty. After sucessfully stealing the horse, and blowing up most of the inn with gunpowder after an encounter with the local militia, Alejandro hides in a local church, where the priest Father Felipe, who was once the guardian of Joaquin and Alejandro when they were little, now resides. Alejandro hides in the confession box where Elena is waiting to speak to the priest. Alejandro has no choice but to pretend to take confession, and takes this opportunityto learn more about her. He then escapes through the roof and rides back to Zorro's lair on his stolen black stallion. Diego scolds Alejandro for taking the horse; he claims that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief. After he calms down Diego tells Alejandro that to enter Montero's world, he must have charm, be a gentleman and gain Montero's trust. Both men talk and come to the conclusion this plan "is going to take a lot of work."

This is only the first hour of the film and from here on the film slows down a bit and it is a good thing to as it has been moving at quite some speed up to now. And it's a pace that really cannot be maintained. Naturally I won't spoil the rest of the film as it is a very good strong story that unfolds from this point in. The story is basically a "pass the baton" or Zorro - The Next Generation, but it is not to say that it doesn't work. It does entertain and both the lead actors of Hopkins and Antonio Banderas do look good in the Zorro uniform although I suspect that not all of Hopkins early shots were him as you do see him in close up only.
The acting as well as the script is high in standard, the main cast all act extremely well in the parts they have and you do feel a genuine bond between Hopkins and Banderas as well as a genuine hate between Hopkins and Wilson as there rivalry does show on screen as to how brutal they are towards each other. Zeta-Jones as Elana I thought was something of a left field choice for the role as at the time she was an up and coming actress and was really only known for The Darling Buds of May at the time, so to be given a role like this was a strong opportunity to be noticed and I think with the way she performed throughout the film, and shown that she is able to defend herself with a sword, she took the opportunity with both hands. It is a shame she didn't get more screen time with Hopkins so that the Father/Daughter situation could be fleshed out further.

Hopkins as the acclaimned actor he is plays the older Diego with a sense of pride, and all he wants is to hand the legacy over as well as get his daughter back. You can't fault him in this film at all, well maybe the fact that his welsh accent come's through a bit stronger in some scenes than others, but then again Sean Connery was the same in The Hunt For Red October!! "We shail into hishtory." With what I initially thought as a strange cast gatahered for this film, it turns out that I couldn't really think of anyone else who could play the four main parts so well. There is chemistry on screen and that is clearly obvious when you watch it as the line delivery and postures when a sword fight takes place only backs that statement up with the quality of the film.
Montero who is the villain of the piece is played by Stuart Wilson, he has appeared again as the villian in Lethal Weapon 3 and also more recently in Hot Fuzz. He brings an emotional side to the role and he plays the part like Hopkins spread over a 20 year timeline, and you get the impression that when he does return that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He is more aggressive and more focussed than before. I think the casting of Wilson in this role is perfect as he brings the correct amount of villainy to the role without overplaying the pasrt to the extent that ir can become comical. It is also a continuation of the trend that Hollywood seems to have had for the last 10 years of casting a British actor as the villian.

And finally I have to mention Antonio Banderas, by the latter parts of the film he is trult the main man and the change in his character from when we first see him to the end of the film shows what a good actor he is. He has his own definitive style of acting that he brings into the film and makes the character his own. After all he is now carrying the Zorro legacy himself. Not only do we see him evolve from a drunk to a hero, but we also see him mature as a character and by the end of the film we see him reach the maturity and has a goal in life that he can aspire to be. Banderas is not only showing his comedic skills in this film abut is also showing us that he can play it tough as well as most of the acrtion scenes involving any fighting is done by himself.
In part also I think it is down to the direction as well, as Martin Campbell has handled the pace and speed of the film not by cutting corners but keeping the camera angles clean, simple and sharp with nothing to arty to confuse the viewer as to positions and movements of the actors. One nice touch that is picked up at the end is the trademark/ sign off that is shown, basically Zorro swinging his sword in the Z shape. For me this meant that this could be a start of a possible franchise everything to do with the story kind of pointed that way and with the complexity of the stuntwork involved you can tell that this is a high quality package.

What time and situation would I watch this? Well it has to be a Saturday night movie, it is full of action, a hell of a lot more suspense than I expected and also great fun. I would recommend watching this at home with a Pizza or maybe even a Kebab and sitting back to enjoy over two hours of high octane entertainment as this is very good value for money. The BBC haven't actually shown this for a while on any of their channels so to get a copy of this is quite a sound and sensible buy and on a cold Winter's evening is a perfect reason to stay in and this film fits that criteria perfectly!!!!

I have seen these in places like HMV and Virgin... oopps I mean the re-branded name Savvy for about £12 - £15. Look on-line you can pick this up for £7.

Thanks for reading and until next time... take care.

Summary: The legend of Zorro returns!