Castanets, much wailing, swash-buckling and baddies with dreadful complexions - all sounds like a dodgy weekend in Magaluf.
No, the King of the Saturday morning specials (Flash Gordon and Rocketman had neither the dash or panache) is back with two, so to speak, upfront. The strikers in question being the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, (played by
The Good
The Bad
Hopkins) and the brash new hero of the under-privileged Mexican masses, Murrieta/Zorro (played with finesse by Banderas).
Set in 19th century California, the masked, dusky avenger, a sort of Spanish Robin Hood minus the rather tacky business of exchanging money from rich to poor, is in a spot of bother.
The Pretty
His greatest enemy Don Rafael Montero (rather fine English thespian Stuart Wilson), the ruthless and corrupt Spanish Governor, has accidentally murdered his wife and quite deliberately appropriated his daughter, Elena (Darling Buds of May Zeta Jones). To add to his misery he's been banged up in an obviously quite unhygienic jail for twenty years.
Understandably the swordsman's a tad miffed. However, he needs to train and enlist the services of a young protégé to avenge the evil Governor. Enter Banderas who has his own bone to pick with Don Rafael Montero's sidekick, the perfectly dastardly Captain Love (wonderful psychopathic turn from Letscher). The blonde-haired, mercenary cavalryman has placed the young Zorro's brother's head in a glass jar. A cinematic moment not for the squeamish.
Unlike renderings of great TV series' like The Avengers, The Saint and Mission Impossible to the big screen, The Mask of Zorro is rather successful and you get exactly what you expect. Although, a modicum too long, this has chemistry, great action, two great villains and wit ("the pointy end goes into the other man" says a novice Zorro). The most enjoyable the 'blockbuster' film this year.
No, the King of the Saturday morning specials (Flash Gordon and Rocketman had neither the dash or panache) is back with two, so to speak, upfront. The strikers in question being the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, (played by
The Good
The Bad
Hopkins) and the brash new hero of the under-privileged Mexican masses, Murrieta/Zorro (played with finesse by Banderas).
Set in 19th century California, the masked, dusky avenger, a sort of Spanish Robin Hood minus the rather tacky business of exchanging money from rich to poor, is in a spot of bother.
The Pretty
His greatest enemy Don Rafael Montero (rather fine English thespian Stuart Wilson), the ruthless and corrupt Spanish Governor, has accidentally murdered his wife and quite deliberately appropriated his daughter, Elena (Darling Buds of May Zeta Jones). To add to his misery he's been banged up in an obviously quite unhygienic jail for twenty years.
Understandably the swordsman's a tad miffed. However, he needs to train and enlist the services of a young protégé to avenge the evil Governor. Enter Banderas who has his own bone to pick with Don Rafael Montero's sidekick, the perfectly dastardly Captain Love (wonderful psychopathic turn from Letscher). The blonde-haired, mercenary cavalryman has placed the young Zorro's brother's head in a glass jar. A cinematic moment not for the squeamish.
Unlike renderings of great TV series' like The Avengers, The Saint and Mission Impossible to the big screen, The Mask of Zorro is rather successful and you get exactly what you expect. Although, a modicum too long, this has chemistry, great action, two great villains and wit ("the pointy end goes into the other man" says a novice Zorro). The most enjoyable the 'blockbuster' film this year.