Pre-Release LEGEND OF ZORRO Discussion

I'm really hoping that this doesn't pull a Mummy Returns on us. There is a kid now. Seems Martin Cambell is borrowing another scene from GoldenEye to use as the ending with the train (Mask of Zorro had an ending around the mine with a countdown similar to the final battle of GoldenEye). If I see a T-Mobile crossover though... ...I'll do nothing but groan.

I like The Mask of Zorro.

But yeah, this is looking way too much like THE MUMMY RETURNS (with some Spy Kids sprinkled in).
And just when you thought the JUST BRING IT hand motion was dead.......

The trailer makes the movie seem like it will be a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the first one, although I've only seen it once. It's just another dvd I'll have to dust off eventually. Anyway, this looks like it should be a good time, little kid or not.

It seems like the story wn't be especially deep or anything, but that's ok too. The vibe I got from the trailer is basically Zorro has family, kinda loses touch with them, gives up being Zorro, bad event happens, Zorro says he'll be Zorro "one last time" to right the wrong/rescue family or what have you. I'll try and catch this one on the big screen if it's even half as much fun as the trailer makes it out to be.

I heard a tiger roar (at least that's what I'm calling it) in there, and if I'm not mistaken there was a tiger roar in the first one too, accompanying an explosion of all things. COOL! Might be a little odd, but it doesn't bother me.

Not as good as the trailer for the first film. Looks ok though.

Looks like a lot of fun. MASK was one of the best summer adventure flicks of the last several years so hopefully LEGEND will have that same sense of fun.

I'm sold.

It's a sequel arriving about five years too late to capitalize. I'd imagine that's what's scaring the studio into rejiggering the release.

Just watched the trailer. Am now officially worried.

Banderas looks great. Zeta-Jones looks great. It's got Rufus Sewell and Nick Chinlund? Great!

But...

A kid? Okay, I can understand the dramatic need for Zorro to be torn between family and duty. But putting the brat in the midst of the action? Giving him not only the 'Come get some' gesture but also the much-despised 'Yes!' fist-pump and the anachronistic 'Daddy's gonna kick your ass' line? As other people have said, that shit helped fuck up THE MUMMY RETURNS. If it goes unchecked here, it'll fuck up THE LEGEND OF ZORRO, a sequel for which I had much higher hopes.

I loved THE MASK OF ZORRO, believing it to be one of the better big-budget entertainments from Hollywood in some time. At the risk of sounding like a grouchy old turd, it was because it was seemingly made with grown-ups in mind. Of course, it could be enjoyed by all ages - nothing about the action or the romance would warp any fragile little minds - but it was never conspicuously dumbed-down to appeal to particular demographics.

But throwing a precocious little knob into the mix? (And I apologise in advance if young Adrian Alonso's character turns out to be relevant and even enjoyable.) How does that help matters? I doubt it's going to give the movie a whole new audience ("THE LEGEND OF ZORRO...now with 23 per cent more child-oriented footage! Bring the kids!"), and it may even serve to alienate those viewers who dug the original.

Of course, I might just be speaking for myself here. Now excuse me while I go yell at some teenagers for playing their blasted pop music too loud.

It looks fun. Mask of Zorro was not brain surgery. Neither does this look like it will be. It just looks like some old school swashbuckling fun, which is all I want out of it. Kids dont ALWAYS have to ruin a movie i.e. Temple of Doom (which was flawed for other reasons not because of short round).

Either way looks fun.

Personally, Short Round was one of the biggest problems of Temple of Doom.

Well, if you're gonna do a ZORRO sequel knowing full well you're about five years overdue, you're gonna have to explain what Zorro and Zeta-Jones did with the time. Hence the kid. I buy it, although frankly, if I were Antonio, this movie would have featured eight little Zorros.

And if you look at this trailer frame by frame, it looks like there are some startlingly insane action set pieces.

I've got no problem with little de la Vegas running around the joint. I do have a problem if they turn into little Zorros...with attitude!

And while insane action setpieces are all well and good, having a horse and rider leap onto the top of a moving train is just plain fucking silly.

Please prove me wrong, LEGEND OF ZORRO.

Looks pretty good. Count me in.

Beware the revenge of Nick Nack in the new film: Golden Gun Reloaded

Sairus, I haven't laughed that hard in a while! Nice one.

I think Martin Campbell is one of the most underrated directors around, and one of the best at action films. He makes them gritty, serious, and they look great. I too think "Mask of Zorro" is one of the best adventure films in a great long while, and have had very high hopes for a long time.

But this is a bad trailer. I hope that its just one of those rare examples ("The Bourne Identity") where the trailer underwhelms and just can't do the film justice. The action scenes look a bit too cartoonish compared to the realistic, violent approach of the original, and the kid is worrisome. Still, Campbell has always made good stuff IMO, so I'll have a little faith. They still make Zorro look great, and the scenes of him praying I liked.

Alittle off topic, but did anyone have as much of a blast watching Vertical Limit as I did? So the story was pretty bland but there was some sweeet action scenes and was entertaining enough for me to enjoy.

I kind of liked "Vertical Limit" too. It is definitely the weakest of Campbell's post "Goldeneye" films, but it still had some very nice action sequences. And that opening fall of Stuart Wilson's is exactly what I mean by the man knows how to get away with a lot in a PG-13 rating. He keeps getting away with showing the bodies slamming into the ground. A brutal and startling shot.

BEYOND BORDERS?

I liked "Beyond Borders" actually. It looks great, it tells a nice little story, and Clive Owen is really good in it. It gets a little extreme at the end, but there's some genuine tragedy there. I'm not nominating it for tops of the year, but I was pleasantly surprised by the film. The performances are good and there's some extremely tense moments (baby with grenade) and again, Campbell gets away with a ton inside the PG-13 rating.

Know I'm a little late in posting on the thread but I'm looking forward to this flick. I rather enjoyed the first film and found it to hold up quite well to repeated viewings. I thought Hopkins was great and Banderas was ennjoyable as well. In fact this was one of the few films where I can stand Banderas in. If the film can't equal the original then here's to hoping the flick will at least be a fun ride. I feel Rufus Sevall will be fine as Zorro's nemesis.

And lay off Short Round. The card game with Indy is one of the great scenes of cinema. Plus his father-son thing is touching to this day.

Where have you gone, JUST BRING IT kid? They've completely eliminated him from all Advertising.

Maybe they cut that from the movie?

We're getting a free screening of this on the 22nd, I may check it out.

I expect this movie, not to rival the first, but really to be a mindless fun ride. Sword fights, action, and Antonio Bandaras with his silly accent. "I can't.......BUT I MUST!" I'm looking forward to it.

The trailer looked pretty boring to me. A "son is disappointed in his father" subplot has been done to death.

It's not good.

That's sad to hear. I remember at one time being incredibly excited for another Zorro flick, because Mask was so damn good. With every ad I see, that excitment dies more and more. What a waste.

I saw a clip with some really AWFUL cgi fire.

Not a surprise. Its a shame really because the first one was so good. How hard is it to write a good story and create a better villain?

Or they could have created another interesting character played by a big-name experienced actor , a la' Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins was a big reason why I enjoyed the original so much. Having just Banderas and Zeta-jones carry the picture just doesn't entice me.

I was looking foward to seeing this film earlier this year but now my feelings have changed. I'll just wait for it to hit dvd.

I'm seeing it tonight. For a long while I was really looking forward to another Zorro movie, but now my expectations are more in check. I'll be butchered for this, but I liked The Mummy Returns more than the half-baked Mummy, so maybe I'll still be able to get some enjoyment out of this.

Dammit.
Really disappointed to hear.

This could have and should have been a really good franchise.

I don't disagree in the slightest. In fact I thought the first film suffered alot especially when it came to the main baddy. Hopkins, Banderas and hot Zeta are what kept it afloat in my humble.

I'm surprised to see all the shitty CGI in the trailers/tv spots. I don't remember any of that in the first one. And if they used a lot of 'digital stuntmen' in this, that's a shame. Mask had some really great stunts (horse chase).

I enjoyed myself a bit more than Devin, but his review is spot-on. I had a pretty good time, but it's not even playing the same game as The Mask of Zorro.

Zeta keeps me afloat in my humble anytime I'm feeling low.

I know just what you mean.

Can we get a nice road movie with Zeta and Monica Belluci please?

I wasn't that crazy about the first flick - way too bloated and at least 30 minutes too long. Campbell gets props for Goldeneye and MoZ, but he's too pedestrian a director for this sort of flick. They need someone with a little more panache, as Frank Horrigan would say. No Escape has been the only movie of Campbell's which I've enjoyed without reservation.

Jesus,this sounds horrible.
A swordsman who never stabs anybody??What the fuck is up with that?
As a fencer, I can only laugh.
As student of California history, what is described by Devin as being shown in the film is laughable.
I have to chide Devin for inserting political meanings in a film that probably has damn few.
And I now that as a devout New Yorker Devin might not be familiar with these things, but some Hispanics have been resident in California and the West in general a long time before the Anglos came in.
BTW The review at AICN actually claims the film has an anti Bush message.
Or if the film is so boring that people make up political allegories to kill time, it must be REALLY bad.

And the COnfederates plotting to take over states in the West is an old,old, Western plotline. Almost a standard.
I am pretty dissapointed with this since swashbucklers and Westerns are two of my favorite genres, and I always like the Zorro films for their blending of the two.

I also sensed the movie's political leanings. I especially liked the French villain's speech about the only weakness of the U.S., that its people are divided. Ain't it the truth! Bravo!

I enjoyed it, although it is not nearly as good as the first one.

Isn't that what the Zorro character does, though? I think the only guy he actually stabbed in the last one was Captain Love.

Silly? Yes. Stupid? Okay the Tornado reactions, pipe smoking, and drinking yes. Boring? Not once for me. It was kiddified compared to the first one and I didn't much care for that, but I enjoyed it anyway.

I did not care for it very much...I though the action scenes were surprisingly badly staged except for the train wreck at the end...hats off to Richard Taylor and WETA for that ....and found much of it boring.
BTW historically it is a hoot.
Henry repeating rifles in 1850?
A Confederate Army in 1853?
A Railroad in California in 1853?
What a laugh.
But I did find the Franch Villian speech about a divided people ironic in view of what is going on in France now....

Mindless entertainment and nothing more. Definitely nowhere nearly as good as the Mask of Zorro. Who wants to bet that they'll attempt a "Son of Zorro" in a few years?