The Legend of Zorro (2005)

Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.

Director:

Martin Campbell

Writers:

Roberto Orci (screenplay), Alex Kurtzman (screenplay)

Stars:

Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rufus Sewell

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alberto Reyes	...	Brother Ignacio
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Frey Felipe
Gustavo Sánchez Parra	...	Guillermo Cortez
Adrian Alonso	...	Joaquin de la Vega
Nick Chinlund	...	Jacob McGivens
Giovanna Zacarías	...	Blanca Cortez (as Giovanna Zacarias)
Carlos Cobos	...	Tabulador
Antonio Banderas	...	Don Alejandro de la Vega / Zorro
Michael Emerson	...	Harrigan
Shuler Hensley	...	Pike
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	...	Governor Riley (as Pedro Armendariz)
Mary Crosby	...	Governor's Wife
Catherine Zeta-Jones	...	Elena de la Vega
Mauricio Bonet	...	Don Verdugo
Fernando Becerril	...	Don Diaz

Storyline

In 1850--against the backdrop of political unrest, as the scheming Jacob McGivens tries to stop California from joining the Union--the mysterious black-caped masked swordsman, Alejandro de la Vega, aka Zorro, finds himself in an unavoidable predicament. Having spent almost a decade protecting his people and fighting injustice, Alejandro's wife, Elena, insists that he gives up the black mask, and become a true father to their eight-year-old son, Joaquin. However, when Elena leaves him for the French count, Armand, it becomes evident that the conceited aristocrat is up to no good. Can Zorro, the legendary defender of the innocent, save both his marriage and the country?

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Plot Keywords:

abraham lincoln character | good versus evil | good man | good woman | four word title | 

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Taglines:

This Fall, adventure begins with a Z.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Thriller | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sequences of violence/peril and action, language and a couple of suggestive moments

Did You Know?

Trivia

Contrary to false claims, Antonio Banderas is not the first Spanish actor to portray Zorro. Spanish actor José Suárez portrayed Zorro several decades earlier in Lawless Mountain (1953), who was followed by another Spanish actor Carlos Quiney in Zorro's Latest Adventure (1969), Zorro, Rider of Vengeance (1971), and Zorro the Invincible (1971). Banderas is also not the first Latino actor to portray Zorro. He was preceded by other Latinos such as Rafael Bertrand (1964), Rodolfo de Anda (1976), and Henry Darrow (1980s).

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Goofs

When Elena is looking at clothes in the market, they are on wire clothes hangers which weren't invented until 1903.

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Quotes

Zorro: Why are you still wearing his necklace?
Elena: I'm under cover! Besides, these are pearls. You never gave me pearls.
Zorro: I thought you didn't care about things like that.
Elena: I lied. Every woman loves pearls.
Zorro: Well, now you have them, *princess*.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits list Abraham Lincoln as "President Lincoln". Lincoln was serving his first term on the Illinois State Assembly at the time that the film is set.

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Blockbuster Heroes (2010)

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Soundtracks

Elena's Fanfare
Written and Produced by Eduardo Gamboa
Performed by The Mexfilm Chamber Orchestra

User Reviews

Not great, but enjoyable sequel

Just saw this at an Advanced Screening the other day and must admit i was not particularly looking forward to it. Mainly due to the fact that i loved the original. I loved its tongue in cheek campness, its fun and exciting action scenes, and Anthony Hopkins.

Thankfully LOZ has 2 out of the 3 (no Anthony Hopkins for obvious reasons) and while the film has clearly been dumbed down and made more "family friendly" as with all mainstream Hollywood sequels, it still has Banderas and Zeta Jones clearly having fun with it.

True, some of the CGI looks a bit naff, and there is a terribly unnecessary scene with a horse which made me laugh just because i would have cried because of the terrible effect, but the action scenes are action packed and use a fairly minimal amount of it.

As for the story there isn't really much to say of it, which is probably why it doesn't live up to its predecessors standards. But it trys well enough.

At the end of the day fans of the original Zorro film will probably enjoy this, as long as they don't expect it to be anything other than a fun popcorn sequel.

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia Tristar [France] Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

28 October 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zorro Unmasked

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,328,506, 30 October 2005

Gross USA:

$46,464,023

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$142,400,065

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Tornado Productions Inc., Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels) Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1