The Mask of Zorro

Los Angeles, the 1840s. Two decades after Spanish governor Montero (Wilson) threw him in jail, killing his wife and abducting his infant daughter, Zorro (Hopkins), the Mexican outlaw/freedom fighter, escapes. Meanwhile, bandit Alejandro (Banderas) wants revenge for the death of his own brother at the hands of Montero's aide Captain Love, a proto-Nazi. Zorro and Alejandro team to save Hispanic America from exploitative Europeans. The film is flawed by Hopkins' Connery-like eschewal of an appropriate accent, action movie bombast, a storyline short on logic and long on clichés, and that tiresome modern habit of proclaiming a character's heroism while undermining it with knowing winks and 'ironic' comedy. That said, it's also fun (if over-extended): the duels are colourful, the music and 'Scope camerawork touch in moments of romanticism, and Banderas and Zeta Jones (Zorro's daughter) cut a dash.