Ain't It Cool News
As the film begins and Zorro steps out of the side of the screen, carves a big 'Z' into it, and we dive into the tear to see California of long ago... well, I was transported. As you noted Harry, this film does indeed feature full screen adventure. In otherwords, they pulled the camera back. And boy does the camera see something. This universe is quite full and lush. I like it. There are rich, succulent colors that dazzle the eyes.
The opening of the film which features the non-Banderas Zorro is startling. Hopkins reminds me of the older Don Juan-era Douglas Fairbanks. And the stunts that Hopkin's double performs, well.. let's just say that this is the way a Batman movie should look. One person for close-ups and dialogue, another for the full length distance shots. The opening had my mouth drooling. The El Cid temp track had my heart pumping, I sure hope whoever does the score can match the gusto of Miklos Rosza's horns.
So does Zorro have any problems, yeah it does. This is it. The blonde captain guy is terrible. He's meant to give Banderas an evil being to loathe and drive him behind the mask, but the blonde captain guy with his "I can't believe it's not butter... s-p-r-e-a-d" good looks is annoying. The Vlasic Pickle Jar treatment is a bit predictable, and I know it's place in history, but I felt the scene was trite and didn't move the film forward. (This is for the producers, director, etc. The rest of ya will hopefully never get it)
Catherine Zeta Jones is hot as hell in the movie. I really loved the way she looked out the top of her eyes, she gave a real... caged animal look, that had me willing to break her bonds and follow her like the faithful pet. I know she was in THE PHANTOM, but she looks approximately 50 times more desirable here. My fellow attendees really are upset that she had long hair for one scene. I mean, come on, we get a glimpse of Jane Seymour's gorgeous ta-ta's in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, and that was a kid's flick. I remember, it's one of the reasons I'm hetero.
Sorry about that, but.. well, hormones, damn them. Sometimes the shots don't work. Anyway, Banderas and Hopkins are perfect in their roles. This will be the film that catapults Antonio where he should of been after Desperado. Strange this is also Sony. Hmmmm. Antonio, perhaps you've found your home.
The one thing I love about the film is the fact that it's so... Republic Serial like. The secret hideouts, the missions, the despicable bad guys, the outlandish stunts, the whip, the swords, the fancy smancy horseback stuff, etc. It doesn't accomplish that Serial feel to the classic degree that Spielberg did with Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it did not drop the ball either. And Spielberg never quite got that same feel back either, and I like both of the Jones' sequels.
The audience I saw the film with loved it. Afterwards the group of guys I was with stood around talking about doing Catherine Zeta Jones, cutting the Blonde Captain DUDE's part out, and how friggin' cool Banderas and Hopkins were.
Is it my fave Zorro? Not really, but that's not really a fair question. As a kid growing up with Guy Williams and Tyrone Power... well they became faithful defenders of truth and justice with flair and charm in my mind's eye. They became the heroes I wanted to be. They established the hero in my mind. So there was no place for Hopkins and Banderas to move into. I'm sure that to today's kids, the dreamers of the bunch will place Hopkins and Banderas right there in their mind's eye, slashing 'Z's in teacher's and principal's foreheads and asses, just as I did.
