The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Directed by Martin Campbell. Starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher, L. Q. Jones, Tony Amendola, Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Julieta Rosen, Maury Chaykin. [PG-13]

An aging, long-“retired” Zorro (Hopkins) sees the need for a hero and symbol to once again fight for the people of California, so he recruits an impulsive outlaw (Banderas), teaches him swordplay and civility and culture, passes along “the mask”, and sends him after nefarious governor Wilson. (And if, along the way, the new Zorro can get revenge against the governor’s right-hand man (Letscher) and seduce his mentor’s comely daughter (Zeta-Jones), three Z’s for him!) Rollicking swashbuckler melding the old-fashioned and contemporary styles is really more entertaining than it has any right to be, so credit smart casting, strong production values, and a director who knows his way around large-scale action scenes that rely on stuntwork far more than ones-and-zeroes. Simultaneously underwritten and overextended, but it’s hard to gripe about too much of a good thing that sacrifices narrative depth and emotional nuance for as much action and humor as can be crammed inside. Steven Spielberg co-executive produced. Followed by a sequel: The Legend of Zorro.

78/100