I was surprised, and saddened, to learn that Raul Julia had originally been tapped for the part of the elder Zorro before he died; Anthony Hopkins plays the role with his usual panache, but thinking back to Julia's swordplay in the Addams Family movies, it's a real loss his not being here (the whole ethnic thing making it more so).
A ★★★½ review of The Mask of Zorro (1998)
There’s a lot to like about TMoZ — the cast (Banderas, Hopkins, Zeta-Jones) are all good, and the action and fight sequences are excellent. It misfires on a cylinder or two with an overly-complex plot (in part due to two intertwined Zorros and their narratives), villains that don’t get past the mustache-twirling stage, and odd swerving between near-slapstick when fighting minions and tragic drama when dealing with both Zorros’ backgrounds and ob…