The Legend of Zorro
The Legend of Zorro is one of the best lame, unnecessary sequels I have seen in a long time, largely due to the charm and chemistry of its leads. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are such an ideal screen couple, it is understandable that the filmmakers would try to recapture the magic of the first film. However, it is one thing to watch the sexy banter and feuding and fencing of a courtship coalescing, and quite another to watch a marriage falling apart. Takes out some of the zing, don’t you know.
The plot that our sexy, competent heroes have to foil is a rather ludicrous one that endangers the whole of the United States, coming on the heels of California gaining its statehood. The actual plan is not revealed until late in the film, which is frustrating, until you realize how far-fetched and weak it is. Rufus Sewell surprises no one by ending up being the bad guy (he’s even French) but he does so with a resigned panache that I have to admire. Adrian Alonso rounds out the principals as the de la Vegas’ son, Joachin. The kid is spunky, brave, and adorable and truly the offspring of this cinematic duo.
The action sequences are exciting and well-staged, if far-fetched, and our leads are still smolderingly interesting to watch on screen. Crowd scenes are rich and interesting, and filled with enthusiastic extras. I can’t complain about pacing or editing or photography, though some of the computer generated effects were surprisingly sloppy. Here are there is a “kid joke” (think CGI effects making a horse’s eyes bug out in surprise) which clunks flatly in an otherwise fairly adult tale of marital strife and national security, but they are mercifully few.
Despite the poster, Ms. Zeta-Jones does not fence in a corset, and our heroes actually do not get to do what we love them doing most of all - kicking booty together. Instead we wait for everyone (including the audience) to get the information they need to move forward and in the meantime, watch Zorro almost supernaturally bust some major chops along the way. A posse of greasy outlaws led by creepy Nick Chinlund claiming to do the Lord’s work appear and disappear at will (as does our hero and his super-smart Andalucian) and distract from what the real plot ends up being.
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Alias and The Island) appear to be more used to letting their big ideas stretch out to play, and as a result, we have too many ideas and not enough time to work them out. The idea of how history would have been different had Zorro, Mrs. Zorro, and Zorrito not foiled the baddies’ plot (oops! Spoiler!) is an interesting idea, but we don’t really have a chance to mull the implications of it, since we are really more concerned with Alejando and Elena and Joachin de la Vega getting their exceptionally talented family back together. It’s worth seeing, but it’s worth waiting for, too.
MPAA Rating PG
Release date 10/28/05
Time in minutes 130
Director Martin Campbell
Studio Sony Pictures
