Sizzle lacks story in new ‘Zorro’
Many wondered why Hollywood waited five years to make a “Zorro” sequel. Well, it sure wasn’t to find the best script. The story is unoriginal and poorly executed. And while action sequences are top notch, the annoying story gets in the way.
Antonio Banderas returns as Alejandro/Zorro, who now has a family – sultry wife Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and spunky son Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). The year is 1850 and California residents are voting on joining the Union. In fact, the film opens with a promising scene in which Zorro retrieves stolen votes from a group of thieves. Yet high hopes for an original film are slowly crushed as an eye-rolling plot is unveiled. The thieves actually work for an ancient secret society called the Knights of Aragon, who has apparently controlled the world for centuries. It’s too bad “The DaVinci Code” film hasn’t been released yet. By the time it is, movie-goers may be sick of seeing anciently influential secret societies (see “National Treasure” and “Batman Begins”).
Anyway, the Knights basically plan to blow up important people in California in order to stop the union from growing. Aware of the destructive ploy, the government dispatches two secret agents to monitor the state’s happenings. The agents are overacted by Michael Emerson and Shuler Hensley to the point that their lines garnered more laughs than gasps. In order to counteract the Knights, the agents blackmail Elena into a divorce with Zorro so she can become involved with the Knight leader and find important information.
I could go on, but I’m getting bored again. It’s as if the filmmakers decided to stop working on the script once the plot was sufficient. Part of what made the original Zorro film a winner was its emphasis on principles, like honor and chivalry. Those ideals transformed a brute into a dashing hero, inviting the audience to transcend their own lives. This sequel just make us care much about the characters. If the writers (there were four) would have dug deeper for a solid, simpler story, it would have been easy to care for these characters. Once again, Hollywood writers think dazzle is the core of cinema. But it’s not – a story needs to be humanly centered, with dazzle as the icing on the cake.
But the dazzle factor is still fun to watch in “Legend,” and Banderas delivers as a strong, charming Zorro (which means “fox” in Spanish). Also a scene-stealer is young Adrian Alonso (Zorro’s son) who may rival Dakota Fanning as the next child acting prodigy. Where Fanning is thoughtful, Alonso is a bubbly, naturally energetic presence that kept some scenes afloat.
All in all, “The Legend of Zorro” is a big letdown that has plenty of sizzle, but no (worthwhile) story. If you liked “The Mask of Zorro,” you may like this sequel. But chances are that you’ll leave the theater disappointed.
Chris Blakesley is a film critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments can be sent to him at cblakes@cc.usu.edu.