Released in 1998 under the direction of Martin Campbell (Vertical Limit, Edge Of Darkness), the movie stars Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stuart Wilson. Based on the character created by Johnston McCulley, The Mask Of Zorro tells the story of a masked vigilante who fights against the oppressive Spanish Government during their occupation of California. It's well-paced, well-developed and it's fun, fun fun.
The movie opens in 1821, during the Mexican War Of Independence, where Zorro (Hopkins) is fighting for the people of California, which is under Spanish rule. He threatens Don Rafael Montero (Wilson), the corrupt Governor of the region, and warns him not to return. Later that day, Montero discovers that Zorro is in fact Diego De La Vega, a local nobleman, and arrests him at his home. In the ensuing fight, Vega's wife Esperanza is killed. Montero takes Elena, Vega's daughter, and imprisons Vega, telling him he wants him to suffer for the rest of his life.
20 years later, Montero returns from Spain with a grown-up Elena (Zeta-Jones), with big plan's for California. His returns quickly gets the attention of Vega, who has spent 20 years languishing in prison. He breaks out of jail, intent on finding out Montero's plans, while preparing to exact his revenge. Unable to do this himself, due to 2 decades of incarceration, he takes on a protégé, Alejandro Murrieta (Bandreas). Alejandro has recently lost his brother at the hands of Montero's right-hand man Captain Love, and so has the right motivation to help Zorro in his quest for vengeance.
With his training and tutelage, Vega turns Alejandro into the next Zorro, but is angered at his vanity and quest for fame and recognition. Despite their differences, they work on discovering Montero's plan, and it turns out that Montero is scheming to buy California from General Santa Anna with gold he is digging from the General's own land.
From then on, we get Vega and Alejandro fighting for both their own retribution, and for the freedom of their people. As a result, we get chases on horseback, explosions, high-flying stunts, epic rivalries, and of course, one-on-ones. Put together, we get one of the best action films I have ever seen. It's just such a joy to watch. The characters, the story and the way it progresses, the antagonism between our heroes and their adversaries, and the kick-ass action scenes. Movies that are this enjoyable don't come along very often, so when they do, we have to savour them as much as possible. While the sequel, The Legend Of Zorro, is still pretty good, it has nothing on it's predecessor; a great action movie, plain and simple.
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