The Mask of Zorro

The elder Zorro trains his replacement to fight the enemy Montero.

• Director: Martin Campbell
• Genre:Action / Adventure / Comedy / Romance / Western
• Runtime:138 minutes

Cast

Antonio Banderas: Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro
Anthony Hopkins : Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro
Catherine Zeta-Jones: Elena Montero / Elena Murrieta
Stuart Wilson : Don Rafael Montero
Matt Letscher : Capt. Harrison Love

In 1821, the Mexican Army is on the verge of liberating its country from Spanish colonial rule. In the area of Las Californias the cruel and ruthless Spanish Governor, Don Rafael Montero, is about to be overthrown. In a last ditch effort to trap his arch-nemesis, the masked swordsman Zorro (Anthony Hopkins), Montero prepares to execute three innocent townspeople. With assistance from two orphan brothers, Joaquin and Alejandro Murrieta, Zorro releases the prisoners. Zorro rewards the Murrieta brothers with a special medallion he wears, and escapes on his horse, Toronado, after cutting a “Z” into Montero’s neck as a parting gift and warning.

The same night, however, Montero confronts Zorro at his home, having deduced that Zorro is really Don Diego de la Vega, a Spanish nobleman married to Esperanza, the woman Montero had always loved. Attempting to arrest Diego, a fight ensues, during which Esperanza is killed while trying to protect Diego. Diego’s house is burned and his infant daughter, Eléna, is taken to Spain by Montero to be raised as his own while Diego is taken to prison.

Twenty years later, Montero secretly returns to California, looking for Diego in the old prison. Although de La Vega is there, Montero does not recognize him, while several prisoners claim to be Zorro. Diego later escapes by pretending to be dead, intent on killing Montero the following day at a public ceremony for Montero’s return. However, Diego restrains himself when he sees Eléna (Catherine Zeta-Jones), now a beautiful young lady. Elena is presented with a bouquet of local flowers – Romagnas, which only grow in California -, the scent of which she recognizes, although she incorrectly believes she has never been to California before.

Diego soon meets an adult Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas), whom he recognizes by the medal he awarded Joaquin. Now a drunken, clumsy bandit, Alejandro is bitter over the recent capture of his mentor, bandit Three-Fingered Jack (L. Q. Jones), and the murder of Joaquin by the sadistic and slightly psychotic Texian Army Captain Harrison Love, Montero’s commander-in-chief. Diego recruits and trains Alejandro to become his successor. Read more

Watch full The Mask of Zorro Come online streaming for free