34 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
34 lines
3.3 KiB
Plaintext
swashbuckling adventure that can be enjoyed by both children and adults .
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steven spielberg may not have directed ( he only executive produced ) but his touch certainly is evident in this movie .
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and he knows a money making winner when he sees one .
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the mask of zorro has the hallmarks of a blockbuster : big action , funny comedy , and the pacing of a rollercoaster .
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hopkins plays don diego de la vega , otherwise known as zorro .
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a fighter for the people , he is eventually captured by don rafael montero ( stuart wilson ) , who also , unintentionally , kills his wife .
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the film cuts to twenty years later , where vega still wants to montero dead .
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however , he's far too old now , and trains up thief alejandro murrieta ( banderas ) to become the new zorro .
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banderas motive ?
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to avenge the death of his brother , who was killed at the hands of captain love ( matthew letscher ) who rather tastefully keeps the head in a jar , in one of the more graphic scenes in this family movie .
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with the scene set , the movie goes on full blast , with sword fights a-plenty and witty one liners .
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banderas and hopkins have a marvellous chemistry as the two zorro's , playing each other off with ease .
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hopkins seems to come off a little better , but banderas does some excellent work .
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as the bad guys , wilson and letscher seem one dimensional , but they go through the bad guy shtick in an above average way .
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the audience does hate them , which can't be bad .
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catherine zeta-jones also pops up as hopkins daughter , and although she provides little more than the usual female lead , she delivers a charming , but one note , performance .
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the chemistry is excellent between banderas and jones .
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there's a delightful little scene where banderas and jones have a sword fight , and every swipe an item of clothing gets slashed , until jones clothes fall off all together .
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the director , fresh from the enjoyable goldeneye ( 1995 ) handles the film perfectly .
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the action is well done and fast paced , the comedy put across well .
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the cast help a lot , but the direction is still outstanding .
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although the film is very long , the plot keeps chugging along , and there's barely a dull moment .
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however , the film is a little over indulgent , and it could have been trimmed .
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it manages to hold the attention , thankfully , and the adventure and charm holds right up to the last reel .
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screenwriters john eskow , ted elliot and terry rosio have unfortunately written an cliched and one dimensional script .
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although they've bought zorro up to date with big explosions and wild action , the plot itself is barely existent .
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there's lots of little sub plots hanging around , but there's nothing substantial to bring them all together .
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the main story seems to be the fact that rafael wants to 'buy' california using gold stolen from the guy he's buying the land off .
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this sets up for a temple of doom type plot where we see peasants slave driven into getting the gold from little mines .
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however , this doesn't seem to appear until nearly over a hour into the film , so the film is never quite sure where it's going .
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in the end however , zorro provides action and comedy in spades .
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it suitable for everyone , so put the guilt behind , and put some more money into spielbergs bank account .
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you won't regret it .
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