When the imperialistic Spaniards oppress the commoners of Mexico – including its northern province of California – a masked man comes to lift their burden. That’s the long and the short of the story here.
Dressed in black, the mark of Z is for Zorro. Anthony Hopkins plays de la Vega, the now-aged originator of the Zorro legend. Prior to his appearance in the film, in the 1820s, Spain loses control of Zorro’s land, California. But, before the Spanish Governor Don Rafael Montero departs, he breaks Zorro’s spirit, steals his infant daughter and slays his wife. Zorro is sentenced to rot in a dank prison.
Twenty years later, Don Rafael returns to California, now under Mexican rule, accompanied by the daughter he stole from de la Vega. The elder Zorro escapes his imprisonment and recruits an uncouth vagabond (Antonio Banderas) to take up the mask of Zorro and set back to work – this time to exact revenge. What follows is reminiscent of both Eliza Dolittle and Yoda’s Jedi training, as the elder Zorro tutors his student in equal parts of swashbuckling and courtly manners. Now we’ve got two Zorros, and – clearly – the bad guys don’t have a hope.
Hopkins and Banderas are very different sorts of actors, and here, in very different ways, each pulls off his role expertly. Hopkins plays a wise old master reanimated by long-held thoughts of revenge, while Banderas is fiery, full of bravado and carrying fresh wounds in need of vengeance. The ardour of both to take action is enhanced when they discover that Don Rafael has returned with a conspiracy to plunge the citizenry back into tyrannical rule.
The Mask of Zorro travels along familiar lines: you know that, eventually, the villains will be thwarted and the heroes will triumph. That’s not to say it isn’t a fun ride. The swordplay is some of the best in recent memory and the stunts are well played. If you are old enough to have been raised on Zorro television show or the serials, this is a welcome graduation, befitting the concept of the hero of the oppressed. For the rest of us, it may not be nostalgic, but it’s still great fun.
While the film is rated PG-13, there is no profanity or sexuality; much of the action is bloodless and only a few moments could be considered too much for young audiences.
