The Legend of Zorro

Meet the domesticated Zorro. The swashbuckling Latin adventurer (Antonio Banderas) returns to the big screen with a 10-year-old son and an estranged wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who has clearly spent a lot of time emasculating poor Zor, pussywhipping the oft-drunken swordsman into submission. So how does this affect his plan to thwart a gang of crooked land barons trying to undermine California's plans to become the 31st state? Who cares, since Legend is larger, louder and, in some ways, even better than the 1998 original. Truly spectacular and a lot of fun, this Zorro has some of the best stunt action sequences seen in years, a throwback to a time when they did these things without a computer and a green screen. The climactic train sequence alone is worth the price of admission, a remarkable demonstration of bravura mainstream filmmaking, and a clear indication that stunt men and women deserve an Oscar category of their own. Although Banderas sometimes plays up his character's comedic side a little too broadly, scenes with his horse, that drinks and smokes, are genuinely funny. And when the action really kicks into high gear, both Zorro and Zeta-Jones make playing with swords more enjoyable to watch than Jenna Jameson.