The Legend of Zorro drags the masked rider out of his mountain and into a political thriller, and the move doesn’t pay off. The 2005 sequel to 1998’s The Mask of Zorro wants to be more than a swashbuckling adventure. It wants to talk about statehood, corruption and loyalty. It doesn’t earn any of that weight.
Trailer, via Amblin Entertainment.
Don Alejandro and Elena
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones return as Don Alejandro de la Vega and Elena, his wife. Their fight over the mask is the film’s best idea, and it’s buried under a plot that keeps pushing them apart for reasons the script never makes clear. Zeta-Jones is the stronger of the two, giving Elena a wearied, wounded presence that the script never quite knows what to do with. Banderas is watchful and skilled, but the character’s weariness is a mask he keeps putting on and taking off.
Armand and the Vineyard
Rufus Sewell plays Armand, the villain who runs a vineyard and a secret study full of papers. His plan involves a railroad, a group called Orbis Unum and a cargo of soap bars. The villainy is thin enough that the soap bars feel like a shrug rather than a twist. The vineyard scenes are meant to be seductive and ominous, but they mostly just look like a set of tables and trees.
Jacob McGivens and the Ballot Fight
Nick Chinlund plays Jacob McGivens, the gunman who tries to steal the statehood ballots. His fight with Alejandro is the film’s most exciting scene, and it’s over in ten minutes. The balloting plot is the film’s hook, and it’s quickly dropped once the story moves to Elena and Armand. There’s no payoff to the election, no sense of what’s at stake, no reason why anyone cares about the ballots beyond the plot’s own demand for urgency.
Joaquin’s Trouble
Adrian Alonso plays Joaquin, Don Alejandro’s son, who gets into trouble at school and sneaks off a field trip. The boy’s subplot is meant to bring father and son back together, but it mostly serves as a way to get Joaquin into McGivens’s cart, where Zorro can save him. It’s a thin thread, and the film never spends enough time with it to make it matter.
The Mask’s Loss
Alejandro loses his mask during a fight with McGivens, and two Pinkerton agents see his face. That should be the film’s moment of consequence. Instead, it’s a setup for a divorce, a three-month separation and a father who feels demoralized by his people’s distance. The loss of the mask should be a loss of identity. In this film, it’s a loss of Elena.
The Verdict on the Legend
The acting is the only thing that holds this together. Zeta-Jones gives Elena depth the script never asks for. Banderas is watchful, but he’s kept from doing much with a character who’s being told to feel angry and betrayed. Sewell is a capable villain, but Armand never gets a reason for his plan beyond a secret study and a group called Orbis Unum. The film’s sense of humor is a problem too. It keeps trying to be funny in a way that doesn’t fit the tone it’s trying to strike.
A Tale of Two Films
| Film | Tone | Setting | Budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Mask of Zorro (1998) | Swashbuckling | California | $90 million |
| The Legend of Zorro (2005) | Political thriller | San Mateo County | $75 million |
The two films are not the same movie. The Mask of Zorro was a swashbuckling adventure with a clear villain and a clear score. The Legend of Zorro is a political thriller with a masked rider who’s losing his marriage. The change is real, and the sequel doesn’t land the same way.
The Numbers
- Runtime: 130 minutes
- Budget: $75 million
- Gross: $142.4 million
- Score: 4.7/10
The Legend of Zorro is a film that knows it’s bigger than its predecessor, and it fails to prove it. The acting is fine, the villain is thin, the humor is misplaced, and the payoff to the ballot fight never comes. It’s a sequel that adds an election, a divorce and a vineyard to a story that didn’t need them.
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