The Legend of Zorro

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: October 28th, 2005 (wide)

Cast: Antonio Banderas (Alejandro "Zorro" Murrieta), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Elena Murrieta), Anthony Hopkins (in talks) (Don Diego "Zorro" de la Vega).

Director: Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Vertical Limit, Goldeneye; next up is another James Bond movie: Casino Royale)

Screenwriter: Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (feature film debuts; they've also worked together on TV shows like Alias)

Based Upon: This is the sequel to 1998's The Mask of Zorro, which was itself based upon the character popularized by dozens of previous movies, several TV series, comic books, books, etc. The Mask of Zorro ended up pulling in $93 million in the USA, for a global total of $200 million.

Premise: Zorro, the gallant alter ego of Don Alejandro de la Vega (Antonio Banderas), built a legend and helped establish peace in California, but Don Alejandro has now fathered a son and built a quieter life with his wife Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Injustice, however, still abounds, so the swashbuckling swordsman finds that he may not have donned the black cape and mask for the last time.

[matt35mm]

Actually, it doesn't look so bad to me.  Better than I'd have expected.  I could sort of tell that the writers had worked on Alias--there's a similar blend of destiny, responsibility, and acrobatic ass-whoopin' that the show is known for.