The Mask Of Zorro

The Mask of Zorro – After he escapes from prison, Zorro pursues the man responsible for the death of his wife and kidnapping of his daughter. Along the way, he meets Alejandro Murrieta, a man who is also seeking vengeance for the death of his brother. Zorro sees potential in Murrieta and decides to teach him how to fight in order for him to become his successor.

The Mask Of Zorro (1998) – Director: Martin Campbell

Rating: PG

Running Length: 136 mins

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta Jones

Genre: Action/Adventure, Fantasy

REVIEW: THE MASK OF ZORRO

Martin Campbell brings Johnston McCully’s ‘Zorro’ to life in the first movie of the latest adaptations of the story. Unfortunately ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ seems content to plod along at a snail’s pace and does not seem too keen to give the audience the action scenes that a movie like this so desperately needs. Whereas movies like ‘The Mummy’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ manage to finely balance the elements of plot, action and character – ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ basks somewhat in its own lavish setting and takes far too long to actually become exciting enough to keep the audience, adult or child, hooked on what is happening.

‘The Mask Of Zorro’ could potentially have been a fun, swashbuckling movie but is too long with little plot to keep its momentum going. There are a few comedy moments (particularly from Banderas) but on the whole, this is a movie which takes itself far too seriously and in doing so, takes any joy out of it. Certainly the elements are mostly there. The backdrops are stunning. Anthony Hopkins puts on a fine performance as the skilled older master harbouring his pain. Antonio Banderas is as watchable as ever. The score is particularly bombastic and complements the setting beautifully. No, the problem here is that there is virtually no entertainment value. The good elements are spread out thin the there simply isn’t enough content to fill the frankly ridiculous running length for this kind of movie. Rather surprisingly therefore, ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ is a flat and dull movie experience for anyone who was hoping for something a little more light-hearted and fun.

CONTENT: IS ‘THE MASK OF ZORRO’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The opening scene shows three men tied to posts and blindfolded who are clearly about to be killed by firing squad. The dialogue of the main villain explains that these men have done nothing wrong; they were just chosen at random from the crowd and are being used to lure Zorro out of hiding. The firing squad take aim and are about to fire when Zorro intervenes. Zorro then approaches the villain and carves a ‘Z’ into his neck with his sword. Shortly after this matters take a turn for the worse for Zorro and a tragedy befalls him. His emotional pain (as superbly played by the ever watchable Hopkins) is strong and empathetic children may be upset by this.

Later in the movie, Alejandro, his brother, Joaquin, and their friend are chased by people who want their reward money. When Joaquin is shot, he makes Alejandro go on without him. He is then surrounded and shoots himself so that they are unable to kill him or take him prisoner. The leader of the group chops his head off and tells his men to ‘bury the body, bag the head’. This is done off-camera so is not graphic. There are other moments of violence but this is probably the strongest example and as it happens towards the beginning of the movie, a child who is able to watch this scene without too much distress should be fine to watch the rest of the movie. The head later turns up in a formaldehyde jar along with a severed hand. There is a brief but close up shot of the swollen and grotesque severed head which may be unpleasant for younger viewers.

There is some mild to moderate sexual content between Alejandro and Elena (Catherine Zeta Jones). One scene shows Alejandro hiding in a confessional box and Elena enters the other side, thinking that the priest is in there with her. She describes her sin of having ‘impure thoughts’ about a man (meaning Alejandro). Alejandro, acting as the priest, asks whether these thoughts were ‘lustful’ and Elena confirms that they were. Later in the film, Alejandro bumps into Elena who is only wearing her night-clothes which are low-cut and reveal her cleavage. They then have a sword fight and Alejandro cuts into her clothing whenever possible, culminating in her being completely topless with only her long hair covering her. Alejandro leaves when he hears other people approaching and, while covering her chest, she describes ‘Zorro’ as ‘young and very vigorous’.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘THE MASK OF ZORRO’ FOR KIDS?

While the majority of ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ should be suitable for most children, it is unlikely to be able to keep them entertained for the duration of the running time (which stands at over 2 hours). Some of the action sequences are good but they are so spread out that they do not do enough to make it an enjoyable movie experience. Conversely, the closing action sequence appears to go on for an age, well beyond the point where another fireball is going to add to anything. ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ takes far too long to get started, far too long to build up speed and then spends far too long at the end cramming in every action movie staple it can think of. Essentially, what we are saying is a few swift chops of the editing blade could have made this a much more fun film. For the content, we feel that ‘The Mask Of Zorro’ should be suitable for ages 8 and over, however children this young are likely to find this movie a little boring.

• Violence: 2/5 (mostly choreographed sword fights. Some shootings and there is a brief but graphic shot of a severed head in a jar)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5 (one character dies and is briefly mourned by his loved ones. Alejandro watches as his brother dies and his body mutilated. He is clearly distressed by this and later says how much he misses him)
• Fear Factor: 3/5 (the severed head could be quite shocking and frightening for younger children)
• Sexual Content: 2/5
• Bad Language: 1/5 (one moderate word is used)
• Dialogue: 1/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of heroism, vengeance, courage, fighting against evil and protecting the weak.

Words by Laura Record