SummaryA sweeping romantic adventure of love and honor, of tragedy and triumph set against Mexico's fight for independence from the iron fist of Spain. (Sony)
SummaryA sweeping romantic adventure of love and honor, of tragedy and triumph set against Mexico's fight for independence from the iron fist of Spain. (Sony)
The return to an Errol Flynn-style hero, who can swing from chandeliers, fight with two swords at once and ride a horse backward, recalls a movie era both sexier and more innocent.
In this film, the legend of Zorro, a Mexican masked hero who fights for justice against oppressive Spaniards, comes to life. And the film is excellent in all aspects. Here, the story of the film is intertwined with political intrigues involving the independence of the Republic of California and the American desire to expand from coast to coast.
The story is interesting and gives us good moments of romance and adventure. The time when everything happens is interesting and shows the decline of the Spanish Empire and the expansion of the USA. It is a historical time that allows for excellent costumes and scenery, and it was very well portrayed, almost as a compliment to Hispanic culture. Of course, there are certain things that didn't go so well and the historical details of the sets and costumes can be the subject of some debate.
António Banderas gained fame and projection, in good part, with this film. Besides being a handsome man, he showed talent and did a good job as an actor. Good moments of action, good sword fights and a certain rebellious boldness characterize his character and the actor was able to meet what was asked of him. Another very evident and very well accomplished thing was the intense chemistry with Catherine Zeta-Jones, with whom he acted and made a romantic pair. She, in turn, was also very well here, exuding sensuality and personality. Next to them, Anthony Hopkins, always impeccable. Stuart Wilson and Matt Letscher are good at villain roles and do their job very well here.
In addition to the very good scenarios and costumes, the film has good cinematography, good colors, an elegant light, good fights, good action and a permanent sense of adventure help this film to become pleasant and even memorable. In fact, it was one of the best adventure films of the nineties.
This movie is phenomenal and definitely one of the most underrated movies of all-time. The plot is great, everything flows wonderfully from scene to scene and it gives you that feel of a real authentic movie. The action is fantastic as well, I mean who doesn't love sword-fighting especially when its done this good. I thought characters were also well mapped out and you really do care what happens to them.
Martin Campbell was on another planet when it came to directing 90's action movies. When talking about the best ones of the era, I'm honestly stunned this one isn't mentioned more often than it is. "The Mask Of Zorro" is satisfying, effortless fun, filled with stunning, brilliantly realized set pieces, charismatic performances from Hopkins and Banderas and a terrific score from James Horner. This is your textbook example of a movie taking a formula, applying it and adding just as many flourishes as it needs to in order to fool the audience. An aging adventurer looking to usher a young pupil into assuming his mantle of heroism is no new thing. Secondary elements like the villain's evil scheme, the choreography or the set and costume design allow enough room for the filmmaker to leave his unique stamp on a kind of story. With "The Mask Of Zorro," not only does Campbell deliver an indelible spin on the "passing of the torch" narrative, but a sub-genre I never thought I'd ever say we could use more of — swashbucklers.
It didn't aged well.
It is one of those movie that facilitate sleep.
Edulcorated action movies.... watered down combat, comic book-like dialogues, slow, predictable and long.
Production Company
TriStar Pictures,
Amblin Entertainment,
David Foster Productions,
Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.,
Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Company Medien KG,
Zorro Productions