Legend of Zorro (2005)

"Banderas uses all his old wiles in this well-oiled, businesslike, quite clangingly violent sequel...  Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"Hooray for the return of Zorro!  Shawn Edwards, FOX-TV

Editor's Note Catherine Zeta Jones captivated audiences and shot to stardom via her role as Elena in the 1998 take on the Zorro legend, MASK OF ZORRO. This sequel, set in 1850, finds her married to Alejandro, aka Zorro (Antonio Banderas, also returning to reprise his character from MASK OF ZORRO), and demanding he stop all the derring-do and spend time with their smart-as-a-whip 10-year-old son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). The boy has some serious acrobatic skills, but is unaware of his father's secret identity. He can only look askance as his parents separate and Dad starts spending too much time with his hard-drinking horse, while Mom lets herself be wooed by the odious Count Armand (Rufus Sewell). It's up to little Zorro Joaquin to get to the bottom of things and get his folk-hero parents back into action. Jones is a stunning sight in her elaborate lace-and-linen ensembles, and there's some complex DA VINCI CODE-style secret society skullduggery, but otherwise this sequel has more in common with classic old Walt Disney comedies like THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG or Robert Rodiguez's SPY KIDS than with the 1998 movie. The swordfighting and death-defying action sequences are all totally bloodless, and director Martin Campbell--who also helmed the '98 film--keeps the dialogue very contemporary and child-friendly throughout.

	Antonio Banderas
	Catherine Zeta-Jones
	Pedro Armendariz, Jr.
	Rufus Sewell
	Alex Kurtzman - Screenplay
	Cecilia Montiel - Production Designer
	James Horner - Original Music By
	Johnston McCulley - Based On Character Created By
	Martin Campbell - Director
	Phil Meheux - Cinematographer
	Philip Ivey - Art Director
	Roberto Orci - Screenplay
	Roger Birnbaum - Producer
	Steven Spielberg - Executive Producer
	Stuart Baird - Editor
	Tomas Owen - Art Director

Entertainment Weekly
"[E]very shot of Zeta-Jones, with rosy lips, glistening black hair, and at-home gowns of sumptuous design, is a lit and composed thing of beauty." -- Grade: B- 11/04/2005 p.50-51

New York Times
"Mr. Banderas and Ms. Zeta-Jones enjoy combustible chemistry..." 10/28/2005 p.E13

Salon.com 9 of 10
Martin Campbell's "Legend of Zorro"...is everything you never knew you wanted in a swashbuckler: A comedy of remarriage, a rousing exploration of the meaning of good citizenship, a sly primer on how not to be a wimpy, self-involved parent -- all that and killer backflips too. The picture is almost shamefully entertaining, bold and self-effacing at once: Its intelligence reveals itself as a devilish gleam, not a pompous layer of shellac. Why can't more Hollywood movies be like this one?...Even within its supremely entertaining lightness, "The Legend of Zorro" is seriously liberal-minded: It urges us to believe in the ideals of government but reminds us that it's a bad idea to cede complete, unquestioning trust in the people in charge. And in between all of that, "The Legend of Zorro" features some of the most blissful on-screen stunts since, well, "The Mask of Zorro"...With "The Legend of Zorro," Campbell pulls off the impossible. He gives us a hero who, by merely tending to his civic responsibilities, makes us forget we have jobs to go to, or homework to do. Zorro, as one character puts it, intending it as a slight, is "a peasant masquerading as a folk hero." Hell, yeah. At the very least, he's given us back our Saturday afternoon. - Stephanie Zacharek