The mask of Zorro

Year of release : 1998

Run time : 2h18m

Genre : Adventure / Action / Western / Swashbuckler

Cast : Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones

The movie is based on the Zorro character, created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley.

The year is 1821, and Zorro, a vigilante dressed in black with a cape, hat, identity hidden under a mask, protects the people of Alta California from the Spanish oppressors.

Don Rafael Montero, a corrupt governor, sets a trap for Zorro by staging a public execution for 3 innocent people. Zorro shows up, frees the men, and meets two kids who are his fans. He bestowes upon one of them his medallion, and rides into the sunset in the cheering of the peasants who love him,not before he confronts the governor, marking him with the letter Z .

Thinking he outsmarted them, Zorro rides home, and enters his property through a cave under a waterfall, entering his living room through a hidden passage.

Unluckily for him, he was followed, and the governor with his men capture him, not before one of them shoots by accident, Zorro's (by his real name Don Diego de la Vega, a noble man) wife.

The governor, before imprisoning him, takes his baby daughter away, as he loved Zorro's wife.

20 years later, the Murrieta brothers are thieves and con artists. Failing to steal a strongbox attached to a wagon, they are captured by captain Love, who is hired by Montero. Alejandro manages to run away, but his brother, who was shot k1lls himself before Love can do it.

Montero visits the prison where he put Don Diego, but he hides, and when other prisoners pretend to be the Zorro he looks for, he thinks Don Diego is dead. In the fight which started due to the inmates fighting about which one of them is Zorro, one of them dies, and Don Diego uses this opportunity to break out, switching the dead body with his own.

Don Diego attempts to k1ll Montero at a gathering, but he sees his own daughter raised by Montero, who grew into a gorgeous woman, and changes his mind.

Alejandro is drowning his sorrows in whisky he can't pay for, and Don Diego approaches him seeing the silver medallion he gave the kids on his last Zorro outing .

Don Diego offers to train him to become the new Zorro, and takes him to the ruins of his estate (it burnt down on the night he was captured). Don Diego teaches him how to fight, jump from high places over anything, and how to be a gentleman.

Alejandro steals a stallion from the local garrison resembling Zorro's Black Andalusian horse, wearing a Zorro mask,after meeting Elena.The very same evening, trying to escape the garrison, he hides in a church, where he meets Elena again, who came to confess her sins, and when he's about to send her away she confesses about finding him attractive.

Next, Alejandro with Don Diego as his servant, Bernardo, pretend to visit Montero while he hosts a party at his hacienda. He presents himself as Don Alejandro del Castillo y Garcia. He impresses Elena by offering her a rose he magically pulls from his sleeve, and by dancing with her, and Montero, with the carefully chosen words, so much so, Montero invites him to a secret meeting between the noblemen,where he shares that he wants to overthrow the Mexican rule in California, proclaiming it an independent state by buying it from general Santa Anna (with his own gold, as we find out later) who led a rebellion in 1821 against Montero.

I personally enjoyed the movie, it was entertaining, funny (I laughed with tears a few times), packed with action scenes with sword fights and acrobatics.

The characters have growth. I liked Elena,who, when she discovers the truth about her real parents, she doesn't discard the one who raised her as his own daughter and she considered her father, but also helped Diego, caught between two worlds. Montero was humanized by the love he had for kids, as he didn't let them see the bad things he and his people were doing, and he really loved Elena (although she wasn't his daughter) as his own, taking care of her as if his own daughter, and her mother (although she was married to Diego). I liked the fact he taught Elena how to protect herself, and she was very good at sword fighting.

The actors were all great. I thought Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones had chemistry.

The soundtrack was the usual you'd hear in the '90's, with arrangements from the song written for the movie and sang by Mark Anthony and Tina Arena throughout.

The movie received positive reviews , and grossed a little over 250 million dollars at the box office, against a budget close to 95 million dollars.

Cinema Score audiences graded the movie an A-.

The movie was nominated for 2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes (for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Actor for Antonio Banderas), and one BAFTA, among others.

Andy Garcia was first cast as Alejandro, while Tom Cruise was offered the role but turned it down thinking it not a good idea. Benicio del Toro, and even singers like Mark Anthony and Chayanne, were considered to play Alejandro. Sean Connery was first cast as Don Diego in 1994; Raul Julia was considered to play Don Diego too. Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Shakira (who was offered the role but turned it down) and Izabella Scorupco were considered to play Elena. Armand Assante was cast to play Montero, but dropped due to scheduling conflicts,and even Lance Henriksen was considered. Robert Rodriguez was first signed to direct the movie before he dropped out,but he cast Antonio Banderas as Alejandro.

You can watch the full movie , for free, if you follow this link :

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9gnnja

Rating : Worth a watch !