Review of The Mask of Zorro (1998) by Compi24 — 18 Jun 2020

Martin Campbell was on another planet when it came to directing 90's action movies. When talking about the best ones of the era, I'm honestly stunned this one isn't mentioned more often than it is. "The Mask Of Zorro" is satisfying, effortless fun, filled with stunning, brilliantly realized set pieces, charismatic performances from Hopkins and Banderas and a terrific score from James Horner.

This is your textbook example of a movie taking a formula, applying it and adding just as many flourishes as it needs to in order to fool the audience. An aging adventurer looking to usher a young pupil into assuming his mantle of heroism is no new thing.

Secondary elements like the villain's evil scheme, the choreography or the set and costume design allow enough room for the filmmaker to leave his unique stamp on a kind of story. With "The Mask Of Zorro," not only does Campbell deliver an indelible spin on the "passing of the torch" narrative, but a sub-genre I never thought I'd ever say we could use more of — swashbucklers.