SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE LEGEND OF ZORRO

"THE LEGEND OF ZORRO"
(2005) (Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones) (PG)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Heavy	Mild	Extreme	*Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Moderate	Mild	Extreme	None	Minor

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Mild	Heavy	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A legendary, mid-19th century swordsman must battle villains not only to get his wife back, but also to preserve California's chance of becoming a state.

PLOT:

It's 1850 and the residents of California are voting whether the land should be admitted as the nation's 31st state. Yet, various forces are conspiring to prevent that from happening, with the villain McGivens (NICK CHINLUND) and his men trying to steal the votes, prompting the masked Zorro (ANTONIO BANDERAS) to swing into action, defeat them and save the day.

Yet, things aren't as successful at home where the hero's alter ego, Don Alejandro de la Vega (ANTONIO BANDERAS) is having marital issues with wife Elena (CATHERINE ZETA-JONES) over him not being around enough for their 10-year-old son Joaquin (ADRIAN ALONSO). The boy, who turns out to be a chip off the old block, idolizes Zorro and wishes his dad could be more like him, unaware of the truth behind his father's passive front.

Things get worse when Elena -- after being confronted by two men who threaten to expose Don Alejandro's secret -- files for divorce and then later takes up with French aristocrat Armand (RUFUS SEWELL), a former classmate whose true motives for being in the country are masked by his dabbling in the wine producing business. Having to battle McGivens and then go after Armand and his right-hand man, Ferroq (RAÚL MÉNDEZ), once he learns what's really going on, Zorro - with the help of Friar Felipe (JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO) -- sets out to defeat them and win back his wife.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of the first film, ones about swashbuckler type characters and/or anyone in the cast, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For sequences of violence/peril and action, language and a couple of suggestive moments.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: ANTONIO BANDERAS plays the legendary, masked swordsman who easily battles the film's various villains, but has a harder time making his wife and son happy. After they leave him, he gets drunk in one scene, but then sets out to win them back.
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES plays his wife who's given up swordplay after becoming a mother and is disappointed by Don Alejandro being too busy with work to spend time with Joaquin. When given an ultimatum by outside forces, she files for divorce from her husband and then takes up with former classmate Armand.
ADRIAN ALONSO plays their 10-year-old son who's a chip off the old block, an expert junior swordsman who has no problem dealing with villains or even his teacher.
RUFUS SEWELL plays the French aristocrat who woos Elena while setting up a vineyard business that's really a front for his nefarious ulterior motives.
RAÚL MÉNDEZ plays his steely, right-hand man who battles Elena late in the film.
JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; CATHERINE ZETA-JONES plays his wife who's given up swordplay after becoming a mother and is disappointed by Don Alejandro being too busy with work to spend time with Joaquin. When given an ultimatum by outside forces, she files for divorce from her husband and then takes up with former classmate Armand.
ADRIAN ALONSO plays their 10-year-old son who's a chip off the old block, an expert junior swordsman who has no problem dealing with villains or even his teacher.
RUFUS SEWELL plays the French aristocrat who woos Elena while setting up a vineyard business that's really a front for his nefarious ulterior motives.
RAÚL MÉNDEZ plays his steely, right-hand man who battles Elena late in the film.
JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; ADRIAN ALONSO plays their 10-year-old son who's a chip off the old block, an expert junior swordsman who has no problem dealing with villains or even his teacher.
RUFUS SEWELL plays the French aristocrat who woos Elena while setting up a vineyard business that's really a front for his nefarious ulterior motives.
RAÚL MÉNDEZ plays his steely, right-hand man who battles Elena late in the film.
JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; RUFUS SEWELL plays the French aristocrat who woos Elena while setting up a vineyard business that's really a front for his nefarious ulterior motives.
RAÚL MÉNDEZ plays his steely, right-hand man who battles Elena late in the film.
JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; RAÚL MÉNDEZ plays his steely, right-hand man who battles Elena late in the film.
JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; JULIO OSCAR MECHOSO plays the local friar who assists Zorro in his various quests.
NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.; NICK CHINLUND plays a local thug who tries to steal the California state votes and is in cahoots with Armand in trying to undermine both Zorro and the Union.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/adventure flick that's been rated PG. Profanity consists of a few minor expletives, while some colorful phrases and brief innuendo are also uttered. Nudity is implied but not seen by the viewer (a young woman apparently sees a man fully nude before her) although we see parts of a man's bare butt through initials sliced out of his underwear. Cleavage is also present, as is some brief but passionate making out.

All sorts of fighting -- some of it brutal -- occurs in various scenes throughout the film, with several deaths occurring by various means (although the vast majority is blood-free). Such scenes and other moments of peril and attempts on others lives (including that of a boy) might be unsettling or suspenseful to some younger kids, but older ones will likely see most of that as adventurous rather than real (although some of the villains -- who all have bad attitudes -- are rather menacing at times).

Some kids may be enticed to imitate the fighting and stunts that occur in the film. Various characters smoke and others drink (with one being rather intoxicated in one scene), while some tense family material includes a strained marriage and divorce (although we later learn the latter was forced by others) as well as a boy being disappointed in his father.

If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Don Alejandro and Elena make a toast, but she gets mad and throws the rest of hers into the fire, causing it to flare up.
We see Don Alejandro and various other men sharing a large tub of sorts while having drinks and playing poker (or something similar).
It's implied that Don Alejandro was drunk the night before when the maid says he went swimming fully clothed in a nearby fountain.
When Don Alejandro comments on Felipe having some wine (as does Don Alejandro and others), the friar says that he needs one vice to keep in touch with the sinners.
While upset at seeing Elena with Armand, Don Alejandro guzzles several glasses of liquor and is then drunk, making a scene in public (he slurs his speech and then stumbles off). Felipe even comments on Don Alejandro drinking on an empty stomach.
Felipe has more wine.
We see Don Alejandro who's still intoxicated, drinking from a bottle while on top of his horse. He then drops the bottle, with the horse picking it up in his mouth and drinking from it (and then belching).
Nervous about a polo match between Don Alejandro and Armand, Elena orders tequila and then downs the shot.
Armand and Elena have wine with dinner.
McGivens drinks.
We briefly see some guards drinking.

BLOOD/GORE: McGivens has a large scar of what looks like a cross on the side of his face.
McGivens spits some blood from his mouth during a fight. Moments later, we see him with many cactus needles in his face, but we don't see any blood.
We see a boy holding his clothed crotch in a classroom when he needs to use the bathroom but isn't allowed to go.
A man has a little blood on the back of his shirt from a fatal wound.
We see something that's red on the torn fabric around an unseen cut on Joaquin's arm, suggesting that it's blood (but it's only a tiny bit).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: The film's various villains and their assistants have bad attitudes for their nefarious plans and harm to others.
McGivens keeps saying that he's doing the Lord's work in taking property, killing innocent people and such.
After a teacher questions Joaquin's comment about a poker, Joaquin says "it fits in your butt." When the priest goes to whack another boy, Joaquin fires his slingshot into the man's butt, prompting the priest to come after him with his ruler (or something similar). Joaquin avoids his thrusts with that and gets into a mock swordfight with him (using something small), eventually whacking him on the butt with it. He the escapes from the classroom out the window with his classmates cheering.
McGivens calls Don Alejandro a "mex" or "mix" breed and then backhands him twice.
McGivens tells a local man that if he were him, he'd keep his wife on a shorter leash.
One of the government men who's extorting Elena says that if her mission has been compromised, they should consider her as an acceptable loss.
We see that Armand is in cahoots with McGivens and has employed him to do his dirty work.
McGivens spits water onto Joaquin's teacher/priest.
We learn that Armand and others belong to a secret order of knights that want to destroy America.
We learn that two government men forced Elena to file for divorce from Don Alejandro as part of their master plan to use her to nab Armand.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes also listed under "Violence" might be unsettling or suspenseful to some younger kids, but most are played in an action/adventure fashion rather than as pure realism. Older kids and adults won't like find much if any of that or the following that way.
Shots ring out in the town, knocking off some soldiers' hats and seemingly hitting others, although we don't see the aftermath to know if anyone was injured or killed (it was from McGivens firing at them to steal their votes). He prepares to shoot Felipe, but Zorro throws his hat that knocks McGivens from his ride. His men then open fire on Zorro, followed by Joaquin firing his slingshot into the back of McGivens' head. McGivens and his men then take off, stealing a carriage with the townsfolk's votes, using the carriage to run over voting booths (of sorts) and cause other property damage. Zorro races ahead of them and stands in the path of the quickly moving carriage, ducking just in time beneath it. While there for a moment, he attaches a rope to it that then goes taut, causing the carriage to abruptly stop and flip over, sending McGivens flying through the air to the ground. With the votes now in his possession, Zorro runs with McGivens's men chasing after him, eventually up onto some scaffolding along a high bridge where Zorro uses various things (including the vote trunk) to knock McGivens' men aside. During this, one of the men lands hard on his crotch on one of the horizontal poles. Zorro then gets into a swordfight with others, precariously balanced on other parallel poles, cutting the supports as he goes. That eventually causes the men to fall and crash to the ground (we don't know about their status after that). McGivens then shows up on the scaffolding, punching Zorro and then pushing him off it. Zorro uses his whip to catch a pole and send him back up through the bottom of the scaffolding platform, kicking McGivens in the process. McGivens then strikes Zorro repeatedly (including with a board) before grabbing and trying to unmask him. Zorro elbows McGivens and then knocks him down a slide off the scaffolding, sending him into a large patch of cactuses (we then see McGivens with many cactus needles in his face, but he's alive).
Two men follow Elena through the town and she realizes that. When they come around a corner, she strikes them several times, followed by hitting them repeatedly with a shovel and even flipping one over. She thinks she's stopped them until one holds his pistol to her face.
McGivens carries a large knife while trying to intimidate a family into giving up their property.
McGivens grabs a woman and holds a knife to her throat, making her husband get their property deed. He then throws the woman to the ground and prepares to shoot both with two guns, but stops when Zorro holds his sword to McGivens's neck. Zorro then strikes McGivens and runs off, with McGivens's men opening fire on Zorro. The husband and wife race inside where she and their infant go down into an opening in the floor to escape. McGivens orders his men to forget Zorro and go for the deed, but the first to approach the front door is blown backwards by a shotgun blast that sends him flying backwards. As various men then open fire on the house, Zorro fights others with his sword, disarming and/or striking them. As a bad guy finds the wife's hidden infant, she retrieves a glowing hot poker and stabs him in the clothed butt with it. He stumbles away in pain, partially on fire and then catching the barn on fire. Other men then chase the wife up to a loft where she fights them off with something before stabbing one in the foot with a pitchfork (we don't see the impact). Zorro also arrives on the scene and fights with various men there (with his sword, punches and more) before saving the baby down below (surrounded by flames) and then the mother (up in the loft, surrounded by flames), the latter on horseback. We then see that McGivens has killed the husband (no impact seen) who stumbles out of his house and falls to the ground dead (some blood on the back of his shirt).
While Zorro is hiding in the chimney and eavesdropping on Armand and McGivens, the former lights a fire (unaware that Zorro is there), thus nearly smoking Zorro out.
Mad at what McGivens has just said, Armand grabs and pins McGivens's head to the table, holding a dagger to him and twice to his tongue (making contact, but there's no blood).
Armand's assistant nearly catches Elena hiding out on the mansion ledge.
Joaquin stows away on the bottom of a carriage. When it comes to a stop, he scrambles to safety, but nearly reveals his position when he accidentally sends some rocks rolling down a hill.
A man grabs Joaquin by the throat and throws him to the ground. Joaquin then grabs various bars of soap and throws them at that man and another. He then avoids them trying to attack him, but gets his foot caught on a rope that then starts pulling him across the ground toward a cliff's edge. Zorro then arrives on the scene, cuts the rope, and battles the two men with his sword. They then end up on a pallet of sorts that then falls from its crane down to the ground below, landing hard.
McGivens pressures Felipe about Zorro's identity. In response, Felipe throws hot candle wax in McGivens's face and then hits some of his men with a large candle holder until McGivens seemingly shoots him dead (we later see him alive with the bullet lodged in the cross he wears around his neck). McGivens then grabs Joaquin who then bites the man on the shoulder.
Zorro places a bottle of nitroglycerine beneath a train and lights a long fuse to it. But when he sees that Armand is bringing out Elena and Joaquin to go on the train, Zorro races to stop the explosion from occurring.
As Elena races to get back to Armand's mansion before he does, she trips and falls hard, drawing the attention of two menacing dogs that then chase her back to the building (she's okay, but it's a close call).
Elena realizes that Armand knows of her covert activities when he serves her a dead but cooked carrier pigeon (served like other wild game - no head or feathers, etc.). She then panics and tries to flee, opening a door and seeing two dead government men and then running into Armand's assistant who holds a huge blade on her.
After capturing him, McGivens hits Zorro twice, knocking him to the ground. He then holds a large knife to Zorro's throat, but Armand tells him to wait until he, Elena and Joaquin are gone (so the boy doesn't see his father killed).
All of the fighting that occurs at the end of the movie on a runaway train (with various close calls, etc.) may be suspenseful to some viewers.
Men on the train shoot at Zorro as he rides above it on higher ground. He then jumps with the horse down onto the train, knocking those two men off it. He then spots an approaching tunnel and turns his horse around, racing toward the back of the train as Armand shoots at them. Zorro then has his horse crash down into one of the cars just in the nick of time as they enter the tunnel.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Swords/Pistols/Rifles/Shotgun/Various knives & blades/Nitroglycerine: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Hell yes," "C'mon, you wanna a piece of me?" "You backwards ass frog," "I will send you both to Hell for this," "I can't wait until my poppy kicks your..."
All of the fighting and elaborate stunts might be enticing for some kids to try to imitate.
Don Alejandro and Elena make a toast, but she gets mad and throws the rest of hers into the fire, causing it to flare up.
We see that Joaquin had put pillows under his bed covers to simulate him being there asleep.
After a teacher questions Joaquin's comment about a poker, Joaquin says "it fits in your butt." When the priest goes to whack another boy, Joaquin fires his slingshot into the man's butt, prompting the priest to come after him with his ruler (or something similar). Joaquin avoids his thrusts with that and gets into a mock swordfight with him (using something small), eventually whacking him on the butt with it. He the escapes from the classroom out the window with his classmates cheering.
McGivens spits water onto Joaquin's teacher/priest.

JUMP SCENES: The sudden whack of a teacher's stick might startle some viewers.
Sudden fireworks explosions might startle some viewers.
A sudden explosion might startle some viewers.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of suspenseful, some ominous and a great deal of action music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 1 ass, 1 hell, 1 S.O.B. (in a subtitle) and 1 use each of "For God's sakes," "My God" and "Oh my God."

SEX/NUDITY: Elena shows cleavage (sometimes a fair amount) in various period-style, low-cut dresses throughout the film.
Don Alejandro and Elena briefly but passionately kiss while clothed.
We see Don Alejandro and various other men sharing a large tub of sorts while having drinks and playing poker (or something similar). We see their bare chests, but nothing else despite them reportedly being nude and Don Alejandro getting out of the tub (but the shot only shows his bare chest).
Don Alejandro wakes up in a bed and then gets up, not realizing he's nude. The young maid there sees him that way (we only see his bare chest) and says that she removed his clothes since they were wet from the night before when he went swimming in the nearby fountain.
After Armand tells Elena that he and Don Alejandro shared something at the buffet, Don Alejandro sarcastically states that is not all they shared (meaning Elena).
A man and woman briefly but passionately kiss.
Zorro and Elena slice their initials in a man's underwear (with their swords) after his pants drop (no blood, but there are small, partial views of his butt through those letter shaped cuts).
Zorro and Elena briefly but passionately kiss.
Zorro and Elena briefly but passionately kiss as they're remarried.

SMOKING: A miscellaneous man smokes a pipe, while we see a pipe vendor in a market.
Needing to distract Armand from Zorro, Elena spots a pipe vendor and says that she wants one.
A servant comes out with cigars for Armand and Elena, but she says she doesn't smoke. Realizing her earlier pipe-based distraction comment, she says unless it's her pipe. Later, he gives her an ornate pipe as a gift. She smokes, but starts coughing, eventually dropping the pipe to the ground below. We then see that Zorro's horse has found the still lit pipe and has it in its mouth.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Elena is upset with Don Alejandro for what she says was his promise to her about giving up being Zorro. She says that he's missing their son's entire life, adding that he doesn't know his son and, worse yet, his son doesn't know him. When he prepares to answer a call from the townspeople, she gets mad and says that if he walks out that door, he's not going to sleep there tonight. He makes a snide comment about his suitcase and then leaves.
Joaquin wonders what his father does and Elena has to make up a story.
Don Alejandro receives a divorce notice from Elena's attorney (but we later learn she was forced to do so, although at the time it seems in line with what's occurring in their marriage).
When Joaquin tells Don Alejandro that sometimes you have to fight, Don Alejandro says you don't, prompting his son to say that Don Alejandro has never been in a fight and didn't even fight for Elena.
Elena slaps Don Alejandro on the face when he makes a drunken scene in public.
A woman sees her husband stumble out of the house and fall to the ground dead.
Talking as Zorro to Joaquin, Don Alejandro hears his son say that his father doesn't care about him. Zorro says he does, but can't tell Joaquin who he really is.
After capturing him, McGivens hits Zorro twice, knocking him to the ground. He then holds a large knife to Zorro's throat, but Armand tells him to wait until he, Elena and Joaquin are gone (so the boy doesn't see his father killed).

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Parents being too busy to spend enough time with their kids.
Strained marriages.
Trying to imitate all of the stunts that occur here and how dangerous they are.
The comment that sometimes you have to fight.

VIOLENCE: Shots ring out in the town, knocking off some soldiers' hats and seemingly hitting others, although we don't see the aftermath to know if anyone was injured or killed (it was from McGivens firing at them to steal their votes). He prepares to shoot Felipe, but Zorro throws his hat that knocks McGivens from his ride. His men then open fire on Zorro, followed by Joaquin firing his slingshot into the back of McGivens's head. McGivens and his men then take off, stealing a carriage with the townsfolk's votes, using the carriage to run over voting booths (of sorts) and cause other property damage. Zorro races ahead of them and stands in the path of the quickly moving carriage, ducking just in time beneath it. While there for a moment, he attaches a rope to it that then goes taut, causing the carriage to abruptly stop and flip over, sending McGivens flying through the air to the ground. With the votes now in his possession, Zorro runs with McGivens' men chasing after him, eventually up onto some scaffolding along a high bridge where Zorro uses various things (including the vote trunk) to knock McGivens' men aside. During this, one of the men lands hard on his crotch on one of the horizontal poles. Zorro then gets into a swordfight with others, precariously balanced on other parallel poles, cutting the supports as he goes. That eventually causes the men to fall and crash to the ground (we don't know about their status after that). McGivens then shows up on the scaffolding, punching Zorro and then pushing him off it. Zorro uses his whip to catch a pole and send him back up through the bottom of the scaffolding platform, kicking McGivens in the process. McGivens then strikes Zorro repeatedly (including with a board) before grabbing and trying to unmask him. Zorro elbows McGivens and then knocks him down a slide off the scaffolding, sending him into a large patch of cactuses (we then see McGivens with many cactus needles in his face, but he's alive).
Two men follow Elena through the town and she realizes that. When they come around a corner, she strikes them several times, followed by hitting them repeatedly with a shovel and even flipping one over. She thinks she's stopped them until one holds his pistol to her face.
After a teacher questions Joaquin's comment about a poker, Joaquin says "it fits in your butt." When the priest goes to whack another boy, Joaquin fires his slingshot into the man's butt, prompting the priest to come after him with his ruler (or something similar). Joaquin avoids his thrusts with that and gets into a mock swordfight with him (using something small), eventually whacking him on the butt with it. He then escapes from the classroom out the window with his classmates cheering.
McGivens backhands Don Alejandro twice.
Elena slaps Don Alejandro on the face when he makes a drunken scene in public.
While intoxicated, Don Alejandro falls from his horse to the ground.
There's a sudden explosion at night that knocks Don Alejandro backwards, leaving a huge hole in the ground and scattered small fires all around it.
Don Alejandro agrees to play Armand in some polo as a challenge. In their first pass, Armand knocks Don Alejandro from his ride to the ground. In the next pass, Don Alejandro does that back to Armand. In their third pass, Armand's assistant breaks the end off his polo stick, leaving a sharp end. As he charges, Don Alejandro ends up falling from his ride due to Elena having previously unhooked his saddle from the horse.
McGivens grabs a woman and holds a knife to her throat, making her husband get their property deed. He then throws the woman to the ground and prepares to shoot both with two guns, but stops when Zorro holds his sword to McGivens's neck. Zorro then strikes McGivens and runs off, with McGivens' men opening fire on Zorro. The husband and wife race inside where she and their infant go down into an opening in the floor to escape. McGivens orders his men to forget Zorro and go for the deed, but the first to approach the front door is blown backwards by a shotgun blast that sends him flying backwards. As various men then open fire on the house, Zorro fights others with his sword, disarming and/or striking them. As a bad guy finds the wife's hidden infant, she retrieves a glowing hot poker and stabs him in the clothed butt with it. He stumbles away in pain, partially on fire and then catches the barn on fire. Other men then chase the wife up to a loft where she fights them off with something before stabbing one in the foot with a pitchfork (we don't see the impact). Zorro also arrives on the scene and fights with various men there (with his sword, punches and more) before saving the baby down below (surrounded by flames) and then the mother (up in the loft, surrounded by flames). We then see that McGivens has killed the husband (no impact seen) who stumbles out of his house and falls to the ground dead (some blood on the back of his shirt).
Mad at what McGivens has just said, Armand grabs and pins McGivens' head to the table, holding a dagger to him and twice to his tongue (making contact, but there's no blood).
A man grabs Joaquin by the throat and throws him to the ground. Joaquin then grabs various bars of soap and throws them at that man and another. He then avoids them trying to attack him, but gets his foot caught on a rope that then starts pulling him across the ground toward a cliff's edge. Zorro then arrives on the scene, cuts the rope, and battles the two men with his sword. They then end up on a pallet of sorts that then falls from its crane down to the ground below, landing hard.
One of the government men jabs Zorro with a small needle on his ring that injects some sort of knock-out agent into Zorro, rendering him unconscious in a carriage.
While in a jail cell, Zorro grabs the two government men and yanks them against his cell bars, sending them bouncing back against a wall, hard.
A man throws Joaquin to the street (out of his establishment).
To free Zorro from jail, Joaquin fires his slingshot to one guard's butt (prompting one guard to slap another). Joaquin then fires another shot and the men chase after him, but one trips on something and hits his head hard on the wall, knocking him out. Joaquin then frees his father who proceeds to punch and knock out three of the guards and then holds his sword on the fourth who runs away.
Elena knocks out one guard (we don't see the impact) and then gets into a swordfight with several other men. Zorro then arrives on the scene and joins her in fighting various men, with sword jabs, hitting and at least one kick. The two then slice their initials in a man's underwear after his pants drop (no blood, but there are views of his butt through those letter shaped cuts).
When one man says he's out of Armand's plan, Armand tosses a tiny vial of nitroglycerine at him, causing a huge explosion that presumably kills the man and sends others flying for cover.
McGivens pressures Felipe about Zorro's identity. In response, Felipe throws hot candle wax in McGivens' face and then hits some of his men with a large candle holder until McGivens seemingly shoots him dead (we later see him alive with the bullet lodged in the cross he wears around his neck). McGivens then grabs Joaquin who then bites the man on the shoulder.
A worker is hit in the crotch (we don't see the impact, but see his reaction).
McGivens shoots at Zorro and then nearly does so at Joaquin.
After capturing him, McGivens hits Zorro twice, knocking him to the ground. He then holds a large knife to Zorro's throat, but Armand tells him to wait until he, Elena and Joaquin are gone (so the boy doesn't see his father killed).
Zorro kicks McGivens several times, eventually freeing his hands and then fighting others. Felipe joins in and hits McGivens several times who returns the blows. More fighting ensues, with McGivens then getting caught on some sort of vertical cog/wheel that slowly pulls him backwards on it, trapping him there. He then sees a single drop of nitroglycerine forming at the end of a tube above him and then falling toward his forehead. We see the resultant explosion, but not the actual death (although we see his body -- but not a view of his presumably missing head -- still on the cog/wheel).
Zorro punches Armand through a window, with Ferroq throwing Joaquin to a chair inside a train and then holding his large blade on Elena.
As Zorro rides alongside a train, the men in the engine compartment throw pieces of wood at Zorro. He catches one and throws it back, hitting one man with a log over his head, causing him to fall and crash into another man, knocking him out and putting the train at full, out of control throttle.
Men on the train shoot at Zorro as he rides above it on higher ground. He then jumps with the horse down onto the train, knocking those two men off it. He then spots an approaching tunnel and turns his horse around, racing toward the back of the train as Armand shoots at them. Zorro then has his horse crash down into one of the cars just in the nick of time as they enter the tunnel.
Joaquin kicks Armand and Elena head-butts Ferroq backwards before hitting him again.
Zorro and Armand get into a swordfight that includes many jabs and slices at each other, as well as punching, other hitting and knocking the other around.
Elena fights with Ferroq, smashing a chair against him, but he then slams her back against the interior train car wall and throws some sort of sharp object at her. This continues as we also see Zorro and Armand continuing their fight elsewhere on the train (with more hitting and bashing about, including Zorro kicking Armand hard in the face).
Elena kicks Ferroq in the crotch, puts a bottle of nitroglycerine down the back of his pants and then kicks him off the train, resulting in an explosion that presumably kills him and several others standing there.
Armand shoots at Zorro, resulting in him dangling from the side of the train (down by the ground).
An out of control train barrels toward a stationary ceremony taking place on a train on the same tracks. Everyone there panics and races to get out of the way, while Joaquin races to try to move the lever to divert the approaching train onto another set of tracks.
Zorro and Armand continue to fight on the outside of the train, with more blows delivered and Armand pushing Zorro's head down close to the tracks at the very front of the train.
Zorro attaches Armand to the front of their out of control, speeding train and then jumps off with Elena in his arms as he uses his whip to grab a trestle and swing them to safety. The train then hits the barricade at the end of the track, derails and explodes in a massive explosion that destroys the train and presumably kills Armand (as Zorro and Elena take cover behind a small wall from the fire and debris).

Reviewed October 12, 2005 / Posted October 28, 2005

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