Too much silliness in 'Zorro'

THE LEGEND OF ZORRO — ** — Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rufus Sewell; rated PG (violence, profanity, vulgarity, racial epithets, brief partial nudity).

You'd almost swear that "The Legend of Zorro" was a Robert Rodriguez movie. Antonio Banderas has the title role and the film has exciting but often hyperkinetic and confusing action sequences, a la the "Desperado" movies. And it even features a combat-ready child character, much like Rodriguez's "Spy Kids."

Unfortunately, this swashbuckling sequel to 1998's "The Mask of Zorro" also features some of the worse aspects of Rodriguez's movies, including clownish humor and an unwieldy running time.

But it's not the work of Rodriguez. It comes instead from Martin Campbell ("Vertical Limit," the James Bond thriller "GoldenEye"), who still hasn't developed his own style, aside from copying others.

Also, the film's propensity for silliness would be more forgivable if there wasn't a real nastiness to some of its violence. "Legend" thinks nothing of showing violence against female characters or putting a child in peril, and somehow skirted by with a supposedly family-friendly PG rating.

The film picks up the story of Don Alejandro de la Vega (Banderas) years later. He's still married to the fiery Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and even has a young son, Joaquin (Adrian Alonso). But his career as the masked crime-fighter Zorro is continuing to put a strain on the marriage. So Elena forces Alejandro to choose between his family and his continuing role as protector to the oppressed people of California, and he chooses the latter, apparently ending their marriage.

Of course, he's hoping for an eventual reconciliation, but Elena turns around and begins seeing Armand (Rufus Sewell), a mysterious Frenchman from her past. Alejandro is suspicious of Armand's motives and discovers evidence to suggest that the smooth-talking aristocrat may be involved in a conspiracy against the U.S. government.

As expected, Banderas does all he can to make the film watchable, and he still has considerable chemistry with Zeta-Jones. But too much of the film follows the other characters, who are much less interesting. In particular, youngster Alonso becomes a real irritant as the cliched, would-be sidekick.

There are also a few silly slapstick bits, like those concerning the dietary habits of Zorro's faithful steed (which, as expected, pay off with a flatulence gag). Sewell's affected French accent is far funnier.

"The Legend of Zorro" is rated PG but does contain some strong scenes of action violence (including sword fighting, gunplay and explosive mayhem, as well as violence against women and children), scattered use of profanity and racial epithets, some crude humor and suggestive talk, and some brief, partial nudity (a male backside, shown as a sight gag). Running time: 128 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com