The Mask of Zorro 1998, Rated PG-13 Columbia/Tristar Home Video

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Starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins. Released to DVD on December 1, 1998.

I am a man who likes a good action film, and having last seen Antonio Banderas brandishing weapons south of the border in Robert Rodriguez's spectacular Desperado (granted, Evita was south of the border, but that was so far south of the border, it probably should be called north of Antarctica), I figured that I was going to be in for quite a treat; Banderas parading around in black, defending the helpless Mexican citizens from the tyranny of the oppressing class, swiping his sword at things and carving his trademarked 'Z's into walls and people. Not true.

In short form, the plot is as follows: Anthony Hopkins is Zorro. Hopkins is jailed by the evil Don Montero, played by Stuart Wilson. 20 years pass. Hopkins escapes from jail, notices a common thief, Banderas, with a vendetta against member of the military named Captain Love, portrayed by Matt Letscher, and decides to teach Banderas how to kick ass like a gentleman, spending his own golden years informing the 'new Zorro' what to do and how to act. Then Banderas goes out after Letscher and fights him with a shiny sword.

That is the short version, short, because there is so much superfluous action--and not the good kind of action, I am quick to say--occurring in The Mask of Zorro that the films sense of rhythm and pacing were compromised. Especially poor are the characterizations of the antagonists, Wilson and Letscher. Neither character is particularly evil, and worse yet, was the ambiguity surrounding to which country, organization, or locally established faction Wilson and Letscher belonged. Letscher looked to be wearing something along the lines of a Union Army uniform--it is not a Mexican Army uniform because Wilson and Letscher were fighting the Mexican Army--and Wilson's style of choice was dinner wear. It almost seemed as if John Eskrow, Ted Elliot, and Terry Rossio's script was pared down from its original length, cutting out all mention of why the bad guys were supposed to be bad, or why Banderas and the Mexican populace weren't happy with the duos misguided intentions to bring in money.

However, what bothered me the most about The Mask of Zorro was that director Martin Campbell did nothing to disguise the fact that I was watching a movie. Campbell's decision to cut and edit the film in the manner he did, with two distinct camera set-ups to capture stunt men jumping onto horses and fighting one another, was pathetic. My opinion on this is simple: if you can't fake the material well, don't bother to fake it at all. Failed attempts to shoot stunts smoothly merely call attention to the fact that, even with a $60 million budget, the director couldn't figure out any way in which to have an actor jump onto a horse or have a stunt man dive out a window convincingly.

Desperado director Rodriguez was originally attached to this project, but his request for a larger budget, which was ultimately granted to Campbell, ended his involvement with the film. As it turned out though, Rodriguez probably made the right decision not to direct The Mask of Zorro. The producers garnered the PG-13 rating they were seeking, effectively cutting all of the gratuitous violence and inventive maimings from the final cut. There were several scintillating horseback riding stunts, but this was much too little and much too late to make up for the lack of creativity, imagination, and heart that this movie was otherwise lacking. Watching your neighbors snow-blowing their driveways is preferable to sitting through The Mask of Zorro.