Review

Review Date: 30-October-05
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Juicy

The Legend of Zorro (2005)

Making "The Legend of Zorro" could not have been easy. First, it had to fall in with a cinematic tradition reaching back to the 1920s. Second, it had to please fans of 1998's "The Mask of Zorro," to which it is a sequel. Third, it had to meet current expectations for action movies along the lines of last year's early-winter hit, "National Treasure." And finally, despite having to be unoriginal per the first three requirements, it had to be entertaining. My hat goes off to director Martin Campbell and his cast and crew for making "The Legend of Zorro" exactly what it had to be.

We harken again to a bygone era (1850) when the good citizens of California struggled to obtain the individual and collective freedoms of the United States of America. Once tyrannized by ruffians, the largely Spanish/Mexican population now waits with bated breath to enter the Union and thus relinquish its need for a champion like Zorro. Ensconced in his lavish villa, Zorro himself, aka Don Alejandro de la Vega (Antonio Banderas), looks forward to retirement with a mixture of relief and trepidation. On the one hand, his loving wife of 10 years, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), has extracted his promise to leave the hero's life behind and devote himself to their son Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). On the other hand, Alejandro has long defined himself by the cape and mask of his alter ego and fears he will be lost without them.

In any case, Zorro's time of obsolescence has not yet arrived. The road to statehood is a bumpy one which jolts Alejandro and Elena apart (setting up steamy marital tension) and brings Count Armand (Rufus Sewell) to town under suspicious circumstances. Armand is one of those classic villains who eyes the heroine with unwelcome lust and opens clandestine meetings by saying, "Gentlemen: The Future!" before unveiling an apocalyptic weapon. Since patriotism has come into vogue since the last picture in '98, Armand's dastardly plan involves rigging the impending Civil War so that both sides lose and his European fraternity, the Knights of Aragon, gains control over the greatest nation on Earth. And since topicality rides on the coattails of patriotism, Elena is forced to spy for the U.S. by two Machiavellian agents who care nothing for her safety or her virtue. Fortunately (this being a 21st-century take on the legend), she can hold her own with any man and is reunited with her husband through the mutual exercise of butt-kickery.

With a nod to tradition and comic relief, the story also includes Zorro's faithful cleric friend (Julio Oscar Mechoso) and an equine sidekick with a taste for booze and tobacco. Younger members of the audience should also enjoy the spunky Joaquin, who miraculously manages to be cute instead of annoying. (The film does have its darker moments, so parents might want to keep very young children away.) All in all, "The Legend of Zorro" is breezy, sexy, action-packed fun that touches all the bases en route to a home run. It contains no surprises whatsoever, and that's precisely as it should be.

Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.