by MARK SLUTSKY

Martin Campbell’s 1998 The Mask of Zorro was an entertaining, funny and enjoyably old-fashioned update of the swashbuckling crime-fighter who’s been around in one form or another for 80-some-odd years now. If casting Anthony Hopkins as Zorro the elder was a weird choice, picking Antonio Banderas for the younger Z-man was an inspired one, as was casting Catherine Zeta-Jones as the love interest. The movie was well received at the box office and by critics, so it’s anyone’s guess why it took them seven years to bring Zorro back to the screen with this year’s The Legend of Zorro.

But thank God they did—Legend is just as funny and exciting as the first film (the presence of a pint-sized precocious youngster notwithstanding). It’s a genuinely good-natured, non-stupid action movie, and it gets the winky (but not smug) spirit of Zorro just right.

Banderas is back as Zorro and his landowner alter ego Don Alejandro de la Vega, and Zeta-Jones returns as his wife Elena. As the movie opens, our hero is ensuring voter safety at an election to determine California’s future (bizarre shades of Iraq that thankfully end there). Though he promises this will be his “last job” and insists on just a couple of months of service, Elena leaves him anyway and takes up with snarky nobleman Armand (Rufus Sewell). Soon it becomes clear that this jerk is up to no good, and it’s up to both Zorro and Elena to take care of business, swords in hand.

One of the admirable things about The Legend of Zorro is that Zeta-Jones really has nearly as much of a hand in the action as Banderas—the woman doesn’t get the short end of the sword. Another admirable thing is how well the comedy is written—the jokes are fresh and never lazy. Banderas and Zeta-Jones are both gifted comic actors, and many directors don’t always seem to realize this. So when they’re given a chance to really explore that side of their abilities, it’s a treat to watch. That, plus the movie’s smart and well-staged action scenes, make for some serious swashbuckling satisfaction.

The Legend of Zorro opens Friday Oct. 28

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