IMDb plot summary: A young thief seeking revenge for his brother's death is trained by the once-great, aging Zorro, who is pursuing his own vengeance.
Directed by Martin Campbell. Starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The Mask of Zorro is a 90s reimagining of the pulp story of Zorro, the vigilante Mexican hero who fought against against oppression and for the people. This iteration of the story features one aging Zorro (Anthony Hopkins) passing off the mantel to a younger potential hero (Antonio Banderas). As a kid, I watched the Disney Zorro series, but I've never seen any of the other versions of the story, so this was a lot of fun. This leaned completely into the swashbuckling adventure style I hoped it would, with big lush set pieces and often-silly choreographed fights. While Hopkins was never terribly convincing to me as Zorro, Banderas takes it and runs with it, giving one of my favorite performances I've seen from him, with a good mix of drama and humor. In fact, the humor works throughout nearly the whole film -- I particularly enjoyed the moment when Banderas attempts to steal a horse, only for the horse to freak out and wreak havoc. What a fun and chaotic action sequence that was. This does tread that very awkward late-90s line with its female lead where, sure, she is a man's equal because she can sword fight, but also we WILL take every opportunity we have to objectify her, but overall Zeta-Jones holds her own and is a great foil for Banderas. Overall, a really fun watch.
How it entered my Flickchart:
The Mask of Zorro > Hairspray (1988)
The Mask of Zorro > Safe
The Mask of Zorro < Secretary
The Mask of Zorro < Nope
The Mask of Zorro > Judas and the Black Messiah
The Mask of Zorro > Anomalisa
The Mask of Zorro > Rise of the Guardians
The Mask of Zorro > Demetri Martin. Person.
The Mask of Zorro < Big
The Mask of Zorro < Labyrinth
The Mask of Zorro > Brooklyn
The Mask of Zorro > Role Models
Final spot: #705 out of 3703, or 81%.
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