As you can tell by the title, I’ll be looking at another
hero who inspired Batman’s mythos: Zorro. Zorro, aka Don Diego de la Vega, was
created in 1919. He first debuted in pulp novels and then moved to other media.
He’s just about been everywhere in media. He’s been in TV, film, radio, books,
comics, and other things. If you can think of it, he’s probably been in it. His
main setting is usually California in the early 19th century before
it officially became a part of the USA. He basically stands up for the common
man against any tyrannical politicians and overall bad men.
It’s easy to see what Kane and Finger took from the character. Zorro’s a nobleman, decked out in all black,
sports a mask, and wears a hat. He also sports a cape, is athletic, and pretty
cunning for the most part. His main weapon of choice is the rapier and he uses
other gadgets in order to help people. From what I’ve seen of the character
(the Banderas movies, an animated show, and a live-action show), he’s kind of a light-hearted guy and we know Batman is far from that these days. The character
has also even been folded into Batman’s mythos. In some versions of his origin,
The Mark of Zorro was the movie that he and his parents saw on the night they
were gunned down.
Instead of a random comic, I decided to look at the more
modern movies of the character and see how they are. They were both directed by
Martin Campbell. Zorro was brought back to American theaters with The Mask of
Zorro in 1998. It was a success back then but a sequel didn’t come until a few
years later. The Legend of Zorro was released in 2005 and wasn’t as much of a
success. I remember seeing the first one a lot on TV. As for Legend, I’ve only
seen it once on DVD. I found both movies for a bargain at McKay’s, so I decided
to check them out. What’s my verdict? Find out below.