REVIEWS

"THE MASK OF ZORRO"

I don't know which one I was watching (I DO remember it being in color), but as a kid, I remember watching "Zorro" on TV and in the movies and absolutely loving it. When "Zorro the Gay Blade," a gay spoof of "Zorro," came out, I remember even liking that! So when I heard about there being a new "Zorro" movie directed by Robert Rodriguez, I was pumped. Then Rodriguez left and I was pretty bummed, but I still wanted to see it. Besides, Martin Campbell isn't a horrible director. And although I wasn't thrilled with Antonio Banderas taking the title role, I was willing to accept it. The verdict? I really liked "The Mask of Zorro," even though it often felt like something was missing.

As it turned out, Antonio Banderas was great. He knew exactly how the role was supposed to be played, and he nailed it. Anthony Hopkins was good, but not entirely convincing as his "Yoda"-like teacher. Then there's Catherine Zeta Jones, the hot chick in the movie. She has an easy presence and seems to be a good actress, but I think that Campbell tried to hard to show us how hot she is. Some of the shots seemed to be there just to show us how sexy she is. Then again, there's nothing wrong with showing a pretty woman, is there? Forget about my bitching, I liked those shots.

The swashbuckling sequences were great, and the stunts were phenomenal. Martin Campbell did a good job directing this film, and it couldn't have been a very easy film to direct.

I don't really know what it was that I felt was missing in the film. I mean, I liked it, but it lacked something. I don't know what it is, though.

My God, I'm a horrible film critic, ain't I? Maybe I should call it quits. Nah, gotta keep entertaining my fans. I have a couple, right?

Scale of 1-10: 8