BEFORE: Well, considering that Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins from "RED 2" had co-starred in the film "The Mask of Zorro", this seems like an appropriate follow-up. But Hopkins is not seen in this sequel, so just Zeta-Jones carries over.
THE PLOT: Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Alejandro de la Vega -- and his wife, Elena -- to take action.
FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Mask of Zorro" (Movie #1,236)
AFTER: Like the Lone Ranger, Zorro had his day, sort of the original superhero from back before there were superheroes. But it seems that day is done, and the studios can stop trying to make Zorro happen. It's not going to happen. Besides, we have Batman now, we don't need Zorro any more.
This is set around the time when California had recently stopped being part of Mexico, and was close to becoming a U.S. state. But by coming in to the U.S. as a Free State and not a Slave State, that apparently was a big concern, touching off a little thing called the Civil War, maybe you've heard of it. There's some stuff here about voter suppression where Hispanics are concerned, proving that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
But the rest of the film concerns some kind of takeover plot, that seems to be related to buying up land and figuring out where the railroads are going to go (I'm not sure, it was all pretty nebulous and confusing here.) Problem is, I've seen this plot before, in films like "The Wild Wild West" and last year's Lone Ranger film too. And Zorro's wife is enlisted to start seducing this French (?) count who seems to be behind it all - assuming I'm correct about what "it" is, and I'm just not sure.
The rest of it was pretty hard to understand, too. Why was it so important to Zorro's wife that he stop being Zorro? Was it just the danger, or did she disagree with his politics? Why did the Pinkerton guys need to use HER, couldn't they have just used another beautiful woman?
NITPICK POINT: So Zorro's own kid didn't recognize him, despite being up close in conversation with him? Think about your own father - if your dad was in front of you wearing a simple piece of cloth covering only half of his face, I bet you'd still know who he was.
Also starring Antonio Banderas (last seen in "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger"), Rufus Sewell (last seen in "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter"), Julio Oscar Mechoso, Michael Emerson, Nick Chinlund, Adrian Alonso,
RATING: 3 out of 10 fireworks
Antonio Banderas doesn't need a Zorro costume to get women to swoon all over him. I> need a Zorro costume to get women to swoon over me. So who do they give the Zorro costume to? The guy who looks like Antonio Banderas and has the Antonio Banderas voice and the Antonio Banderas charm and who's an international movie star.
ReplyDeletePutting this man in a Zorro costume is like taking a nuclear missile and filing the end of it so that it's super-sharp and pointy. It seems unnecessary.