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[Kumiko Nikaido]

The follow-up to The Mask of Zorro (1998) is now here, and sees the return of Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and director Martin Campbell. Of interesting note is that this sequel is rated PG, whereas its predecessor was rated PG-13. Hmmm. Here's what to expect this time around:

'The Legend of Zorro' is set several years after the conclusion of the previous adventure. Alejandro (Banderas) and Elena (Zeta-Jones) are married and have a 10-year-old son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). Though Alejandro continues to don the mask of Zorro to protect the poor and oppressed residents of the California territory from the greed of the overlords, he is torn between his duty and his desire for a more normal life. Now, he must face that conflict again head-on when plans for California to become the 31st state are undermined by a nefarious plot by several prominent land barons and businessmen. In his valiant attempt to foil their plans, Zorro runs headlong into a crisis that threatens his life and the safety of his family.

I really enjoyed The Mask of Zorro back in 98'.....a popcorn flick with fun action scenes and a great music score. The Legend of Zorro looks to continue the trend, this time with included parent-play and banter between Zorro and Elena....haha. But hey, it's all in good fun so this sequel should deliver.

 

[Mejilan]

I was never a fan of the franchise, but even I have to admit that the first movie was highly enjoyable. I might actually even see this new one in the theaters!

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Loved The Mask of Zorro, featured somethings in 1998 that most modern Hollywood fight sequences lack; wide angle shots, lack of rapid cuts, lack of constant extreme close ups and shaky cam, just pure good kickass fight cheorography, beautifully shot and edited.

Regarding Legend, I'm diffinately looking forward to it, but rated PG?!! Why?!!

 

[Mugen]

I kinda read another synopsis and Zorro is fighting for USA which is quite wrong cause Zorro is supposed to be mexican isn't he? That's like Billy the Kid being Canadian or something.

But yeah I like the first movie and will see the second one for sure.

 

[ManaByte]

Headed out to catch a midnight showing of this right now. Loved the original.

 

[Error]

the Zorro is cool and all but I know this is the true reason why all of you are going to see this movie

hottest milf in the planet

btw can't wait for this movie.

 

[FoneBone]

I enjoyed the first movie, but the critics seem to mostly agree that the sequel is far inferior. I'll be skipping this. (Shame that The Weather Man doesn't seem to have turned out too well, either.)

 

[ManaByte]

Basically if you liked the original you'll like the sequel. If you hated the original, you'll hate this one. It's the same type of movie.

The first 2/3rds of it is a bit more lighthearted than the first one, but the end gets better and the train is worth the price of admission.

Also, Horner's score is almost identical to the original.

I also really liked the final shot, which was an iconic Zorro image.

I'd like to see a third, but hopefully it won't take them seven years this time. They could even use The Mark of Zorro, which was the original title they were going to use for The Mask of Zorro.

Then they could do a remake of Zorro: The Gay Blade directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Andy Dick as Zorro's gay brother Bunny Wigglesworth. They could even still have George Hamilton as Don Diego Vega.

I kinda read another synopsis and Zorro is fighting for USA which is quite wrong cause Zorro is supposed to be mexican isn't he? That's like Billy the Kid being Canadian or something.

Not exactly. Zorro is kind of like a 19th Century Robin Hood in that he fights for the people. In the movie Zorro is still fighting for the people, it's just set in the months leading up to California becoming part of the union.

Zorro was always a Spanish-era Calfornian, and although the new movies are shot in Mexico, Zorro has always been set in California where he would fight for the people of California against the corrupt Spanish governor. Although, yes, most of the residents of California at that time were Spanish-speaking but that doesn't change at all in the new movies. It's not like they have a white guy playing Zorro in a red white and blue costume.

The sequel stays very true to the core Zorro mythos, especially showing how the people of California are looking forward to statehood for the freedom it would give them from the Spaniards, but even at the end of the movie

Spoiler

when California is a state

there's still a place for Zorro.

 

[levious]

Then they could do a remake of Zorro: The Gay Blade directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Andy Dick as Zorro's gay brother Bunny Wigglesworth. They could even still have George Hamilton as Don Diego Vega.

I wanted them to give Anthony Hopkins' role to Hamilton in the last Zorro movie. They need to do a new release of The Gay Blade... hopefully with an audio track other than Mono.

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

Basically if you liked the original you'll like the sequel. If you hated the original, you'll hate this one. It's the same type of movie.

The first 2/3rds of it is a bit more lighthearted than the first one, but the end gets better and the train is worth the price of admission.

Also, Horner's score is almost identical to the original.

Neato. I'll be seeing this one tonight. Wootie! ^_^

The recently released Deluxe Edition DVD of The Mask of Zorro contains a free $7.50 admission to The Legend of Zorro, so I'm happy:

Also, it contains a behind-the-scenes making of TLOZ, plus an exclusive scene direct from the film: A clip of Elena doing swordplay on baddies with Zorro jumping into the fray. Get this edition if you don't own any of the previous DVD edition of The Mask of Zorro.

 

[Shinobi]

the Zorro is cool and all but I know this is the true reason why all of you are going to see this movie

hottest milf in the planet

Fucking right.

I got the new DVD of the first movie (which I simply love) last week, so I'll put that free coupon to good use sometime next week. Hopefully it's as enjoyable.

Also, I was hearing that Mark of Zorro is the definitive movie featuring the character...I'll probably pick that up as well in time.

 

[ManaByte]

Fucking right.

I got the new DVD of the first movie (which I simply love) last week, so I'll put that free coupon to good use sometime next week. Hopefully it's as enjoyable.

Also, I was hearing that Mark of Zorro is the definitive movie featuring the character...I'll probably pick that up as well in time.

That's a remake of the 1920 silent version:

It is good, yes. It's also the movie that Bruce Wayne and his parents went to see the night they were killed by Joe Chill.

 

[Lil' Dice]

A white dude playing Zorro? Spare me......

 

[Marty Chinn]

I saw this at the beginning of the month at a screener. It had poor pacing and wasn't very good. Pretty boring and nowhere even close to being as good as the original. I was extremely disappointed.

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

Just got back from seeing it. Overall, it was a pretty good film....just not as energetic as the first one.

The fight scenes had their trademark choreography and pizzaz, but portions of the middle dragged here and there (note: this has a running time of 2 hrs. and 10 min.). Still, it was funny to see Zorro and Elena play off each other.

Zorro's son, Joaquin, was a fiesty little fellow....but his spunkiness got irritating...haha.

The final act,

Spoiler

where the train carrying all that nitro-glycerine meets its own demise, was an eye-opening visual and audio pyrotechnic display of explosions recently put on film I'll say.....wowzers!

All in all, if you enjoyed the The Mask of Zorro, you should find Legend to be decent.

 

[ManaByte]

The final act,

Spoiler

where the train carrying all that nitro-glycerine meets its own demise, was an eye-opening visual and audio pyrotechnic display of explosions recently put on film I'll say.....wowzers!

And that was a minature done by WETA Workshop.

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

And that was a minature done by WETA Workshop.

Nice! Very convincing and effective! The sequence alone warrants viewing and hearing it on the biggest screen possible. ^_^

 

[Troidal]

I'd like to see this when it comes out here in Japan...

But can anyone answer me this: a lot of people knew who Zorro was at the end of the first movie, did they ignore that in the sequel? Then again with all those poor people running away from explosions, I guess they wouldn't have the time to really see who it was... ^^;;

 

[alejob]

Don Alejandro kicks ass! What a cool name.

Spoiler

Thats my real name

Spoiler

Do you think if I take a girl out to see The Legend of Zorro she'll be hot for Don Alejandro?

 

[FnordChan]

The Legend of Zorro is a miserable film.

Nevermind the dull plot, the childish characterization, or the lame jokes. (They drop the kicked in the balls gag within the first five minutes. I winced, and not out of sympathy for the victim.) No, what really kills this flick is the pacing, or lack thereof.

It's not hard, guys. It's a swashbuckling film. Buckle some goddamned swash, willya? No, instead we get long, drawn out sequences where nothing much happens. Now, I'm perfectly comfortable with this sort of film...when the plot and characterization merits it. Zorro is just fucking dull, not least because the main characters act like complete idiots the entire time.

Let me put it this way. I went to see Zorro last night because my girlfriend was a huge fan of the original. I wasn't excited by the trailer, but what the heck - it's Zorro, right? How bad could it be? Partway through the flick we're rolling our eyes at each other the entire time and she's muttering to herself about how boring the whole thing is. Finally, I lean over to her and ask if she wants to leave. A look of pure relief crosses her face and we bail on the spot...80 minutes into the film. We couldn't even be bothered to hang around for the finale. Perhaps it would have livened things up a bit, but I'm glad I avoided wasting another 50 minutes of my life.

Basically, the new Zorro movie is trying to be a kid's flick. This is the only explanation I have for the butt jokes and the simplistic (to say the least) characters. Hell, you've even got the cute kid Zorro running around being annoyingly precocious. And if they edited this turkey down to 90 minutes or so it might have worked. However, it's going to fail even on that level because the interminable middle section of the film is going to put half the goddamned audience to sleep.

In short, The Legend of Zorro sucked ass. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

FnordChan

 

[maharg]

The sequel stays very true to the core Zorro mythos, especially showing how the people of California are looking forward to statehood for the freedom it would give them from the Spaniards, but even at the end of the movie

Spoiler

when California is a state

there's still a place for Zorro.

:lol isn't considering that a spoiler like worrying about people not knowing the

Spoiler

titanic sunk

?

btw be careful, you might get banned again for posting about zorro.

 

[Schmo Florez]

Zorro the gay blade is THE zorro movie. :lol

 

[Kumiko Nikaido]

We couldn't even be bothered to hang around for the finale. Perhaps it would have livened things up a bit, but I'm glad I avoided wasting another 50 minutes of my life.FnordChan

The last act definitely had your action, swordplay, and explosions......BIG explosions.