Dir. Martin Campbell, US, 2005, 130 mins
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rufus Sewell
And so, with a swish of his Spanish cape, elusive sword-wielder Zorro returns to right a few more wrongs, crack a few more wry jokes and continue an unusually personal relationship with his horse. Yet pleasant and inoffensive as Zorro’s heroics are, Martin Campbell’s sequel has one slight problem - it has no real reason to exist.
See, one of these swashbuckling sillies was justifiable. Zorro (Banderas) was an appealing hero pleasingly blessed without supernatural powers. Elena (Zeta-Jones) was almost enjoyable as his gutsy girlfriend while Anthony Hopkins lent the whole affair a layer of class as Zorro Sr. It was popcorn pap, but enjoyable stuff nevertheless. But why make another? Bereft of the intense Hopkins, Campbell’s follow-up ends up feeling languid and a little pointless.
Zorro Mark II sees California’s sombrely dressed hero ten years older and awash with personal problems. As many of his fellow heroes have previously discovered, maintaining a marriage whilst saving the world is a little tricky. Elena is now his wife, and a pretty unsympathetic spouse at that. Meanwhile, as Zorro contemplates hanging up his mask, California is voting to become the next American state. Hindering this happy nationalist outcome is nasty Armand (Rufus Sewell), who hopes to bring about civil war with his big, bad explosives.
As the weary Zorro gets to do more daredevil stunts, carve the letter Z a few more times, and to try and regain his lost love, director Campbell ticks all his boxes. As any self-respecting thriller director should, Campbell makes full use of the conveniently placed explosives to blow up lots of things. He even gets a runaway train to play with later. Interspersed with all these frolics are bits of nastiness from Sewell and his odd-looking henchmen, and various comic moments from the beleaguered Zorro.
So what on earth does The Legend of Zorro bring to the party? Apparently, it reveals more about its eponymous hero than the previous film - his mentality, traumas and deep rooted psychological unrest. In short, he is rubbish at marriage. There is also a quality performance from Raul Mendez who brings refreshing spunk and pluck as Zorro’s son Ferroq. But other than that - well, the horse delivers a lesson in character acting…
This is not a complete turkey by any means. Banderas’ Latin charm is present and correct, Zeta-Jones kicks ass and swells her corset as required and Sewell is suitably smarmy and volatile as the bad guy. But Campbell’s film is just so ploddingly predictable and, consequently, boring. There’s a definite similarity between this and Desperado, a previous Banderas showcase for improbable villain-slaying. But where that film had panache and style, The Legend of Zorro lacks any such innovation or spark.
Yes, it does what it says on the tin. Yes, it fulfils its obligations and delivers thrills and spills in lavish qualities. But no, a sequel was not merited on this evidence.
Richard Mellor, 2005
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