The Legend of Zorro

Zorro has been a classic staple for Hollywood films for many years. With the return of the two stars to their roles, it should be as enjoyable and fun as the last one.

Rated PG

~ Not nearly as fun the second time around~

____

By Todd Karella
October 28, 2005

Original Story Synopsis:

Antonio Banderas reprises his role as the masked hero, with Katherine Zeta-Jones returning as well to fight injustice and tyranny.

Movie-Pix Best Guess:

To save their lives he is captured and once again unmasked. Like in most films, the hero has to be captured and make a last minute escape to set up the finale.
While there has been many worse films out this year, this one hovers around mediocre as there is too much plot and not enough action to keep your attention, the exact opposite of most Hollywood films.

Who knows what they were thinking when they decided to throw a small boy into the mix of an extremely anticipated sequel. Did they want more children to see it? Are they trying to soften Antonio Banderas’ image even more with cutesy kid films, or did they just expect the viewing public to swallow more of the same regurgitated crap that Hollywood continues to spew forth?
The trailers suggested a film full of cheese, silly one liners and ridiculous stunts. To some degree that could have been forgiven as

Zorro is a superhero of sorts where an amount of comic relief is expected.
What cannot be forgiven is that the action scenes are few and far between. Zorro needs to fight for the downtrodden, not spend three months getting drunk, getting a divorce, disappointing his son and solving complicated stories. Zorro is a man of action!
It’s been ten years since the last film. Alejandro de la Vega (Banderas)
and Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) are married and have a son. California

is finally voting to become a state, and Alejandro has promised to give up the mask since California will be a protected member of the United States of America and no longer need his services.
   During the election, Zorro must ride in to save the day as a group of outlaws led by Jacob McGivens (Nick Chinlund) who are trying to stop them from joining the Union.
   While saving the ballot box, the true identity of Zorro is revealed. Two suspicious men have been following his movements and witness his unmasking.
   As Alejandro discusses the incident with his wife, he decides that Zorro should stick around for the next three months until California officially becomes a state. Elena is furious at his comments and they begin fighting. After kicking him out of the house, she has a run in with the two men that

know their secret. Suddenly she files for a divorce.
Alejandro is shocked by this turn of events and seeks solace at the bottom of a bottle. For three months he drinks himself into a stupor, until his friend and confident, Brother Ignacio (Alberto Reyes), convinces him to attend a party.
The party is for Armand (Rufus Sewell), a Count from Europe who has moved to California in order to develop the world’s greatest vineyard. The surprise if that his new escort is the woman he loved back in school, Elena.

This sends Alejandro to drinking even more, as now he has completely lost the love of his life. During his drinking binge he notices a massive explosion at the vineyards, leading him to believe the count may have a hidden agenda.
After further investigation and another confrontation with Jacob’s gang, he learns that the Count is involved and is using them for illegal land grabbing around the area.
In order to discover the truth about what is happening, he decides to infiltrate Armand’s house and finds that his wife is doing the same thing.

Sneaking out to the winery they find that he is not making wine at all, but is instead making a highly concentrated nitro glycerin that he is planning to sell to the Confederate Army for their sneak attack on Washington.
Zorro is just about to foil their plans and blow up the train carrying the explosives when he sees that Elena and his son Joaquin (Adrian Alonso) have been captured and brought aboard the train.

Movie-Pix Hit or Miss

Best Guess Results:

Who would have thought there would be too much story involved in this. If anything it looked like it would be cheesy with a lot of unrealistic stunts. Instead it was a slow, dull film dragged down by real life problems.