The Mask of Zorro

Theatrical Movie Poster

The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American sawshbuckler film based on the Zorro character created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbelland stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stuart Wilson. In the story, the original Zorro (Hopkins) escapes from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife against the corrupt governor (Wilson). He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who also pursues his own vendetta.

Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment had developed the film for TriStar Pictures with directors MIkael Salomon and Robert Rodriguez before Campbell signed on in 1996. Salomon cast Sean Connery as Don Diego de la Vega, while Rodriguez brought Banderas in the lead role. Connery dropped out and was replaced with Hopkins, and The Mask of Zorro began filming in January 1997 at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico. The film was released in the United States on July 17, 1998 with both financial and critical success. The Legend of Zorro, a sequel also starring Banderas and Zeta-Jones, and directed by Campbell, was released in 2005, but failed to receive the overall positive reception of its predecessor.

• Directed by: Martin Campbell
• Produced by: Doug Claybourne, David Foster
• Written by: John Eskow, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Randall Jahson
• Story by: Johnston McCulley
• Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher
• Music by: James Horner
• Cinematography: Phil Meheux
• Edited by: Thom Noble

  

  TheatricalTrailer

• Country: U.S.A., Germany
• Language: English
• Running time: 136 minutes
• Budget: $96 million
• Box Office: $250 million
• Release date: July 17, 1998
• Distributed by: TriStar Pictures

Plot

In 1821, Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins), a Spanish nobleman, fights against Spain in the Mexican War of Independence as Zorro, a mysterious avenger defending the Mexican peasants and commoners of Las Californias. Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson), the cruel governor of the region, learns de la Vega's identity. Arresting de la Vega in his home, his wife Esperanza is accidentally killed by one of Montero's soldiers. Montero imprisons de la Vega, and takes his infant daughter, Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones), as his own before leaving for Spain.

Twenty years later, Montero returns from exile in Spain with Elena by his side. He is planning to turn California into an independent republic. His reappearance awakens a long-dormant de la Vega, who has spent two decades living in anonymity during his imprisonment. He escapes from prison, and as he plans his revenge on Montero, encounters a thief, Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas), who along with his brother greatly admired Zorro as a child.

De la Vega takes Alejandro as his protégé. Inspired by the wish for revenge upon Captain Harrison Love (Matt Lestcher), his brother's killer and Montero's right-hand man, Alejandro endures the tough training regimen.

After Alejandro steals a black stallion resembling Tornado, Zorro's long-deceased horse, and leaves Zorro's mark at the scene, de la Vega scolds him claiming that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief or adventurer. He challenges Alejandro to gain Montero's trust and pose as Don Alejandro del Castillo y García, a visiting nobleman, with de la Vega posing as his servant, Bernardo. Both attend a party at Montero's home, where Alejandro gains Elena's admiration and enough of Montero's trust to be invited to a secret meeting. There, Montero hints at a plan to retake California for the Dons by buying it from General Santa Anna, who needs money to fund his upcoming war with the United States. Alejandro and the Dons are taken to a secret gold mine known as "El Dorado", where peasants and criminals are used for slave labor. The plan is to buy California from Santa Anna using gold mined from Santa Anna's own land.

De la Vega uses this opportunity to become closer to Elena: still posing as Bernardo, he learns that Montero raised her claiming her mother died in childbirth.

De la Vega allows Alejandro to become his successor as Zorro, and sending him to steal the map leading to the gold mine: he duels Montero, Captain Love and their guards. As Alejandro escapes, Elena attempts to retrieve Montero's map. She fights him with a sword, but he uses his sword to strip off her clothing and seduces her, leading to a passionate kiss before he flees.

Terrified of Santa Anna's retribution, Montero decides to destroy the mine along with all its workers. De la Vega tells Alejandro to release the workers on his own while he reclaims Elena: he corners Montero and reveals his identity, but is captured.

As he is taken away, Elena, inspired by a chance encounter at the market with a woman who was her nanny, asks de la Vega the name of the flower that her mother hung about her crib: when it is de la Vega who tells Elena that it is the Romneya, she realizes he is her father. She releases de la Vega from his cell and they proceed to the mine, which Zorro has infiltrated.

De la Vega stops Montero from shooting Zorro and the two duel while Zorro is confronted by Captain Love. Alejandro avenges his brother, impaling Love with his own sword, and de la Vega kills Montero. Elena and Alejandro free the workers before the explosives go off, then attend to the mortally wounded de la Vega. He makes peace with Alejandro before dying, passing the mantle of Zorro to him, and gives his blessings for Alejandro's and Elena's prospective marriage.

They re-build the de la Vega home and have a son named Joaquin, honoring Alejandro's brother.

Cast

- Antonio Banderas - Alejandro Murrieta/Zorro

- Anthony Hopkins - Don Diego De la Vega (former Zorro)

- Catherine Zeta-Jones - Elena De la Vega

- Ving Rhames - Aaron Thibadeaux

- Maury Chaykin - Conrad Greene

- Kevin McNally - Haas

- Terry O'Neill - Quinn

Music

1. Entrapment

2. Saints And Sinners

3. Fayeth In Fate

O.S.T. Cover

4. Bright Moments

5. The Dancing Jars

6. Blackmail

7. Who's Who? 

8. Heist Society

9. A Certain Uncertainty

10. La Fleur De La Musique

|11. Kuala Lumpur

12. Impossible, But Doable

|13. Thieveing

14. Wondering Aloud

15. Silent Partner

16. The Empress Mask

17. Millennium Countdown

18. Alive Again

19. Try, Then Trust

20. Thank God 

Filming locations

Filming locations for the film include Blenheim Palace, Savoy Hotel London, Llyd's of London, Borough Market, London, Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull in Scotland, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur (with other filming completed at Pinewood Studios), and the Bukit Jalil LRT station.

Critical reception

The film opened to mixed or average reviews as described by Metacritic. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as receiving 38% positive reviews. Critics focused on a scene where Zeta-Jones trains for the heist by worming around a net of red threads that simulate laser beams. The camera lingers on her buttocks through much of the scene. Another similar scene takes place when she is actually crawling through the real laser beam field to steal the mask, including some close-ups of her derrière. The laser scene was choreographed by Paul Harris, who also choreographed the wand-to-wand combat sequences in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The film was a box office success, grossing over $87 million in the US and $212 million worldwide. Entrapment was nominated for two Razzie Awards including Worst Actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Worst Screen Couple (Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery).

The film was screened out of competition at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

As of 2013, IMDb rates the film at 6.2 out of 10.