It's a strong movie, with solid acting, and a great mix of humor, drama and action. I've seen The Mask of Zorro several times since I wrote this and I think my original feelings actually hold up.
Anthony Hopkins, who's actually a British actor, is a strange choice to play the original Zorro who passes the torch to Banderas's Alejandro, but he manages to bring a lot of charm and authority to the role." I look forward to seeing many more films from her. She's a beautiful actress who shows a lot of promise. Antonio Banderas's casting in the role of Zorro is inspired to say the least, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was a wonderful choice for Elena. I enjoyed Martin Campbell's retelling of the famous legendary hero.
#THE MASK OF ZORRO MOVIE#
on to (edited) portions from my 1998 review: " The Mask of Zorro is the summer movie for 1998! Despite some content, the acting is superb, the humor is strong, and Banderas makes a perfect Zorro. Overall, it's a nice 4K transfer and I'd recommend it to fans of the film for sure. Still, most of the movie is super crisp, vibrant and beautiful (only a couple scenes showed substantial grain or fuzziness). It's more vibrant and crisp than ever, but like a lot of older films, it can only be so clear sometimes due to the age and quality of the film. We weren't able to get the disc release for review due to the present pandemic and supplier warehouses being temporarily shutdown, but we were able to view the 4K stream of the film. somehow).įor starters, the 4K Ultra HD transfer is quite good, actually. For 2020, the film (and its 2005 sequel) have been given the glory of a 4K UHD release, so it seems like the perfect time to revisit the movie here (and maybe try to salvage my original review. Not only did it brilliantly cast Antonio Banderas in the titular role, but it introduced to us the wonderful and stunning Catherine Zeta-Jones (who would go on to win an Oscar for her work in Chicago). Directed by Martin Campbell (who would later make one of my favorite movies, Casino Royale, in 2006), The Mask of Zorro brought the latin swashbuckling hero, Zorro, back to the big screen in a huge way. Heck, it's hard to believe The Mask of Zorro released over two decades ago now. Please forgive the candor, but it's not everyday you revisit a review you wrote 22 years ago while in your teens.
Due to their ambivalence, Campbell was left alone creatively, which he thinks is why the film turned out, as he modestly put it, "Okay." "We were always getting notes from the budget, and once we were shooting, I barely saw someone visit," he said. The studio's disinterest wasn't all bad, though. It wasn't a question of me or anyone else. I don't think they had any faith in the project. They went ahead with it because they were forced into it because they would've lost that money. They were already in it for $12 million because of delays, scripts, actors, and so forth. They just didn't like the project, as simple as that. "What happened on that film was the studio changed management," Campbell said: "The new management didn't like the project. During production, TriStar's higher-ups didn't have high hopes for The Mask of Zorro.