What Went Wrong: The Legend of Zorro
By Shalimar Sahota
September 4, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The Mask of Zorro opened to $22.5 million back in 1998. It went on to earn $94 million in the US and a grand total of $250 million worldwide. As explained by Campbell, everything was neatly concluded and all tied up in the first film, thus preventing the need for a sequel.
Development for a sequel (then titled Zorro Unmasked) seemed to begin in 2000, with the original writers Ted Russo and Terry Elliot revealing in an interview with MJ Simpson that the film is likely to include pirates, the California Gold Rush, someone from Alejandro’s past, an old flame of Elena’s, as well as Elena dressed as Zorro. At the time, Russo said of the story, “I don't have much hope for this project. We’re writing a version of a story that was approved, but I'm not sure it’s the best version of the story possible.”
While their script was not used, some of their contributions remained, netting both Russo and Elliot a story credit on the sequel. The ones writing the screenplay were Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. They had previously worked together on the TV series Alias and Michael Bay’s The Island. Their script involved Zorro separating from Elena and later getting divorced, only to fall in love with her all over again.
Speaking to Empire Magazine, lead star Antonio Banderas said, “This time, because Zorro is already established, we had to think: what is the one thing that can shake up a man’s life? Elena leaves me. So all these elements come in, like jealousy and desperation. He goes through a crisis, he starts drinking again, he’s got problems with his son, the whole family is totally disrupted.”
The story is set ten years after The Mask of Zorro, where we find Alejandro (Antonio Banderas) and Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) now married and with a son, Joaquin (Adrián Alonso). Much to Elena’s annoyance, Alejandro feels that Zorro is still needed to protect the people and future of California, so he refuses to give up the mask. Unable to accept that he is still risking his life, Elena decides to separate from him. She is then forced by a pair of government operatives to work for them, at which point she gets a divorce so that she can use her relationship with Count Armand (Rufus Sewell) to investigate him. This sends Alejandro into a drunken rage. However, donning the mask as Zorro and doing a little digging, he finds out that Armand intends to destroy the United States… by distributing nitroglycerine… via soap.
Distributed by Sony Columbia, The Legend of Zorro had a production budget of $75 million. It opened in the US on October 28, 2005, landing at #2 with an opening weekend take of $16.3 million, a lot less than what the first film opened to. What they didn’t count on was the strength of a low budget horror sequel, for it was beaten to the top spot by Saw II, which surprised everyone by opening to nearly twice as much as The Legend of Zorro. Saw II eventually ended up earning more than The Legend of Zorro in the long run, resulting in plenty of yearly sequels. Zorro, however, did not see another sequel. Taking just $46.4 million at the US box office, the second film earned less than half of what the first one managed. An overseas gross of $95.9 million helped push the film to a worldwide total of $142 million. It’s okay, but a major disappointment when compared to the $250 million worldwide that The Mask of Zorro earned.
Reviews were mostly negative, with many feeling that it came across as an unnecessary and mindless action adventure sequel. Even some of the positive reviews lamented on how this was no better than the first film.
It had also been seven years since The Mask of Zorro was released. A sequel should have come sooner. Since then, swashbuckling action adventures such as The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had upped the ante, both of which had also introduced elements of fantasy.
One of the main draws for The Legend of Zorro was the action. Some of the stunt work for the first film is incredible and unfortunately, this sequel fails to top any of it. It’s good, yet one can’t help but compare to what we’ve seen before. The action is also somewhat lacking, for after the opening sequence it’s a little over half an hour until the film delivers another action set piece involving Zorro. The climax on a train does have its moments, though.
A film that concludes with the hero married and starting a family would generally imply that it’s all happily ever after. So do audiences really want to return for a sequel involving that family? The closest comparison here would be The Mummy Returns, which was successful but is largely remembered for its faults and rushed special effects. In The Legend of Zorro, the iconic hero is now a husband and a father and audiences get to see him having a family spat and getting drunk. Basically, it’s bogged down with moments that feel more suited to a soap opera rather than an action film.
Also, why split up Alejandro and Elena? It’s a misguided decision that removes one of the great things about the first film, their banter and chemistry together. A story where they’re still a couple could have worked, generating humor as they quarrel on strategies and fight the bad guys together, disagreeing (or even complimenting) each other’s approach. A small part of this exists in the final third once Elena and Zorro finally work together to take down Armand. Given that it was initially considered, one also has to wonder what kind of film this could have been if Elena herself donned a mask and joined in on the action.
As a fan of The Mask of Zorro, my expectations for the sequel were rather high.
I viewed The Legend of Zorro at a preview screening and was ultimately left under-whelmed. It would be nice if this franchise had continued, but the result here felt like an unnecessary cash-in made up of leftovers. However, this might not be the last we’ve seen of the masked outlaw. Sony Columbia did pick up the rights to Isabel Allende’s novel Zorro. As an origin story on the character, it would suggest that they intend to reboot the franchise. 20th Century Fox also have a Zorro project, taking him in a completely different direction by producing the dark, post-apocalyptic Zorro Reborn. Let’s just hope that neither film borrows from The Legend of Zorro by featuring a horse on a train. I mean, just look at what happened to Disney’s The Lone Ranger.