The Legend of Zorro is a 2005 sequel to 1998's Mask of Zorro. Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones return to reprise their roles from the first movie, and Rufus Sewell joins the cast as the main antagonist. This movie is set 10 years after the original, just before CA becomes a state. Elena and Alejandro are at odds over his dedication to Zorro at the beginning of the movie, and that theme plays throughout most of the movie. Rufus Sewell is the main bad guy in the movie and, as usual, excels at playing a jackass who you love to hate. Like in the first movie, there is a conspiracy to take down, and this time, Elena is much more involved in thwarting it separately from Zorro.
The movie is okay, but it is definitely not as good as the original. Even though some of the scenes were done to mirror some from the first movie (the opening sequence for example, and Elena facing off with bad guys in a stable), it does not have the same feel as the first. That is good and bad. It is good in that it is not a carbon copy of the first movie, but bad because it also does not have some of the things that worked well in the first. It is really the trap that a lot of sequels fall into. One thing I think the movie misses is the comedic elements between Alejandro and Elena that worked so well in the first one. But because they spend a lot of the movie apart, and fighting when together the movie tries to get the comedy elements in via other ways that just do not work as well. You can tell that the tone of this movie was meant to be less dark than the first. It is not nearly as violent (although there is still a lot of action and fighting, it is not as graphic as the first movie. The film also misses the presence of Anthony Hopkins and the father/authority figure he played in the first.
As far as extras go, you do get more with this than from the first movie, at least on the DVD version. There are more features, including a few deleted scenes (that can be played with or without the director's commentary), four making-of featurettes, a couple of scene deconstruction featurettes, and the trailer. There is also a commentary track by the director Martin Campbell and the cinematographer on the film, should you choose to listen.
As far as extras go, you do get more with this than from the first movie, at least on the DVD version. There are more features, including a few deleted scenes (that can be played with or without the director's commentary), four making-of featurettes, a couple of scene deconstruction featurettes, and the trailer. There is also a commentary track by the director Martin Campbell and the cinematographer on the film, should you choose to listen.
Overall if you accept that like the majority of sequels this one is not as good as the first movie, and is a little more toned down and family friendly, you can enjoy it. If you are not one who collects the physical discs, I think it is fine as a rental or streaming because, while it is worth the time to watch, it is probably not a movie that most people will be compelled to watch again and again.
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