A Máscara do Zorro

The best thing about this movie is the casting.How ingenius,eh? Antonio Banderas as Zorro,eh?And Stuart Wilson as the central villain.This guy is one of the most unrecognised talents around.As a snidy British baddie,he could easily give your average Dennis Hopper a run for his money.Catherine Zeta Jones is also marvellous as the love interest. The action scenes and stunts are fantastic.Real hollywood at it's best.Martin Campbell keeps an efficent and steady pace to proceedings as director. If there's a problem here,it's that it's probably a tad overlong.But luckily,this unwantern time is'nt filled with unnecessary scenes but scenes as visually exciting as the last. It's also marvellous that it's a PG,because such past fare,like Bad Boys,is loud,action packed,exciting and brilliant,it's also rather flatulent and rude.This is just superb action entertainment which can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Antonio Banderas is appropriately magnificent along with gorgeous heroine Catherine Zeta-Jones.This superior Zorro with great swordplay is a lavish swashbuckler starred by Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas as the dashing masked avengers . A young Banderas dons a black outfit and becomes the ideal Zorro riding in the hoofprints continuing in the wake of the old Zorro-Hopkins who passes his mantle of protector of hapless ad unfortunates. This is a zesty recounting of saga of legendary masked rider , though not as distinctive as previous classic entry starred by Tyrone Power. Here Zorro faces danger from governor Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) as well as corrupt villain captain Harrison (Matt Letscher). And Anthony Hopkins gives slickness and distinction as elegant veteran Zorro. After numerous setbacks the hero and his lovely heroine, a wonderful Catherine Zeta-Jones, help the good people of California thwart the greedy schemes of a meanie who stands in the way of statehood for the territory. The nimble actor Banderas runs and jumps all over the images of this movie, as he deals with the oppressor with a breathtaking finale and wreak havoc included.

In this first Zorro starred by Antonio Banderas took a chance and jumped from comedy-action to costumed comedy-adventures; he steals the show as Murrieta/Zorro relishing his secret identity with cape and sword; executing bounds and leaps, twists and climbs and throughly enjoys himself. A great casting and an unstopped action keep this picture moving at a rapid clip. Banderas made the character of Zorro his own and quickly established himself as a Latin legend. Antonio Banderas is terrific as the Zorro, well accompanied by ideal heroine, a beautiful Zeta-Jones. Nice secondary cast, such as Stuart Wilson, overacting outrageously as the villain, and actors as Tony Amendola and Pedro Armendariz Jr , booth of whom will repeat acting in the following. Furthermore, overwhelming swordplay and horse action and displays too much of everything. Stirring musical score by James Horner and colorful cinematography by Phil Meheux. Other versions about this known character created by Johnston McCulley are the following : The mute classic adaptation ¨Mark of Zorro¨(1920, Fred Niblo, with Douglas Fairbanks), the classic ¨Mark of Zorro¨(1940, Robert Mamoulian with Tyrone Power, Basil Rathbone and Linda Darnell), and followed by ¨The legend of Zorro¨( 2005, Martin Campbell again with Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones, Tony Amendola,Pedro Armendariz and Rufus Sewell) and European version ¨Zorro¨(1975, Duccio Tessari with Alain Delon, Octavia Piccolo and Stanley Baker) . Rating : 7,5, good, better than average. The motion picture will appeal to trio protagonist fans: Banderas, Hopkins and Zeta Jones. Well worth watching.

I will not deny that I am not particularly into swashbucklers that much, but I will be prepared to say that the Mask of Zorro is splendid entertainment. Antonio Banderas gives a very spirited performance as Alejandro, and the well-choreographed sword fights, beautiful score and witty screenplay allow Banderas to do what he does best. Anthony Hopkins is perfect as Don Diego, giving his character a sense of bitterness, sensitivity and vulnerability that make all his performances so endearing. In fact, this, Silence of the Lambs and The Elephant Man just go to show what a great actor Hopkins is; the only film he disappoints in is in Chaplin, where he played the rather unnecessary role of the fictional autobiographer. Catherine Zeta Jones is lovely beyond words as Elena, and Stuart Wilson plays his his-sable villain almost to perfection, but Matt Letscher as Captain Love isn't quite as threatening as he should be. The cinematography is very handsome, capturing perfectly the beautiful sets and costumes. The only other criticism I have of the movie, is its length, it's quite excessive. But I will say the explosive finale and spirited performances more than compensate, making it a very well-done and entertaining film. I wasn't as impressed with the sequel, the swordplay was more like slapstick and the plot was less involving and a little bloated. 8/10 for Mask of Zorro though. Bethany Cox

Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) is the original Zorro who battled the tyrannical Spanish rule of Governor Montero. On the verge of liberation, Zorro is imprisoned, his wife killed, and his daughter abducted. Twenty years later, Montero returns to take advantage and Zorro escapes with Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas). Zorro decides to train Alejandro as the new Zorro.

This is a good adventure flick. It has fun sword play especially with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas. They have good chemistry together. And so does Hopkins and Banderas. It keeps the tone light and irreverent. It's an entertaining romp.

Banderas is perfect as the anti hero Zorro, he's devilishly handsome and swarthy. The storyline is well developed and has a surprisingly touching ending. The fight scenes are well coordinated and have a sense of levity.