Twenty years later, the daughter has favorably grown into Catherine Zeta-Jones. Too old to play the lead, Hopkins hands his Zorro mask to Banderas, who uses it to romance Zeta-Jones and wreck the evil plans of the only Anglo in California, Captain Love (Matt Letscher). Meanwhile, Hopkins hopes to settle his score with Montero.
How others will see it. This summer blockbuster gave audiences exactly what they wanted: action, romance, adventure, and a happy ending. True, Hopkins dies, but it's still a happy ending for the producers, since his expensive salary can be foregone in the sequel. This film made a star out of Zeta-Jones, who was equally hot in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), but missed with that role since she didn't receive enough close-ups of her flawless features.
How I felt about it. If a film achieves nearly 100% audience satisfaction, does that alone make it worthy? No, since the quality of a film has little to do with its audience or its box office prowess. People enjoy The Mask of Zorro because it fits its expectations like a glove. It is exactly what it is supposed to be, instead of what it should be. The difference may be obtuse, but it is enormous.
We know how The Mask of Zorro is supposed to be. It is in front of our eyes. Lots of ridiculous action, such as Hopkins jumping from a high balcony onto the back of his trusty waiting steed. Such a fall would break the back of the horse, and and would effectively castrate Hopkins.
Then there's such silliness as Zorro fending off three swordsmen at once with his single blade, and narrowly escaping bullets several dozen times. And all the instances when the hero or bad guy has the drop on the other, but instead of killing him, lets his arch-enemy go!
We can't omit all the trash-talking, which occurs during life-or-death sword duels. Kill him, sure, but don't make cocky remarks to him. And all the times when the hero or villain betrays his hand to the other, as if saying, "I'm so good you can't stop me, even if you know what I know, what I'll do, and when I'll do it." Examples of this are Banderas' showoff behavior at the ball, and the head-hand display to Banderas, who for some reason has a drink from the head jar anyway. Ewww!
While we're hacking this film to bits, let's not neglect Jones' character. She's a Spanish-raised aristocrat, the daughter of a pompous former governor, but she has complete sympathy with the poor Californians and their hero Zorro.
One more thing. It took a three-hour film for Rex Harrison to teach Audrey Hepburn manners in My Fair Lady, but Hopkins is able to teach dirt-poor alcoholic bandit Banderas charm without the passing of a single scene. In fact, Banderas has become the best Latin dancer in California.
Well, if The Mask of Zorro is so flawed, how should it have been made? For the answer to this riddle, see The Mark of Zorro (1940), which is vastly superior.