By John Serba
January 19, 2024
Zorro was filmed over eight months in the Canary Islands from July 2022 to February 2023. Cameras were taken in the municipalities of Las Palmas, Arcas, Gardar, San Bartolomé de Tirajana and Telde, as well as Del Nublo Park and Tehra Volcanic Basin. Meanwhile, Sioux City Park in Gran Canaria was closed to the public during filming due to construction of the main set and filming of parts of the series.
The swashbuckling masked vigilante who redefined heroes in the 1950s is back with a new and reimagined look. Although he may appear different, his mission remains unchanged, that is, to punish evil and save the people in trouble. ‘Zorro’ (2024) premiered on Amazin Prime on January 19, 2024.
Zorro says his mission statement out loud so it’s crystal clear: “If the law does not serve justice, justice must not serve the law.”
You may know that Zorro is less a man than an entity, an idea. When one Zorro dies, another takes his place. His Native American brethren swoop in and take his body and burn it on a pyre and argue about who’s next to don the cape and all that. Nah-Lin (Dalia Xiuhcoatl) thinks she should do it, but the elders aren’t so sure. MEANWHILE, in Spain, we meet Diego de la Vega (Bernardeau), a soldier in training. He receives a letter with bad news – Alejandro was his father, and had lots of money and a valuable chunk of California property, which is a way of saying Diego now has affairs to attend to.
Jump to six months later, and Diego hops off a boat in the port of Los Angeles, ready to take care of any loose ends. He learns from his father’s caretaker Bernardo (Paco Tous) that local authorities believe Zorro murdered Alejandro, which is pretty convenient considering the accused is dead. We know better of course; it’s what your English teacher calls “situational irony.”
Diego has a loose end of his own to deal with. He used to live here in L.A., and had a thing with Lolita Marquez (Renata Natni), the daughter of Alejandro’s closest compadre. When they reunite, she seems trepidatious, and possibly a little bit terrified, and his eyes are so blue in the California sun they make Daniel Craig’s look like swamp murk. She hides her engagement ring from him, because love is confusing. He plants a smooch on her face and she looks dumbfounded. We soon learn that her fiance (please pronounce it “FY-ants”) is the head cop around here, Monasterio (Emiliano Zurita), and he’s a smug, corrupt jerkass. To be continued, definitely.
One night, Diego has a strange shirtless dream. Awakens.
Puts on a shirt. Wanders outside. Sees a crow. Sees a fox. Follows the fox.
Meets Night Crow, the Native American who’s apparently keeper of the Zorro cape
and cowl. He tells Diego that Zorro didn’t kill his father and declares Diego
the new Zorro, which comes in handy a day or two later when Night Crow is
falsely charged with trying to blow up a ship carrying a Russian businessman,
because now he has someone to bust him out. Such foresight! Turns out Diego’s
old man was in good with the Native Americans and they’re in line to inherit
his business assets and the people in charge around here aren’t happy about
that. This looks like a job for Zorro, and Diego, it turns out, can buckle the
living snot out of a swash. Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be!
I’m a touch disappointed that this self-described “bold reinvention” of Zorro didn’t cast a woman in the title role, but at least some feminist energy turns up in the Lolita and Nah-Lin characters, the latter of whom isn’t at all happy that the new Zorro is a wealthy Spaniard (I like to call it the Batmanification of Zorro). Energy of any breed is this Zorro’s greatest asset – it’s fast-paced and chock-full of action, romance and mediumweight drama, with big, broad, likable performances from its primary cast. Its visual presentation is inspired, popping with color and vivid imagery in the costumes and settings, which fill the debut episode with an abundance of impressive eye candy.
That eye candy is a reasonable compensation for the fight sequences, which lean on slo-mo and use semi-clever editing to cover up the lack of detailed choreography. This isn’t a dealbreaker, though – the action is slickly directed and relentlessly uptempo, executed with the bloodless cheeriness of easily digestible pulp that clearly delineates the good guys from the bad guys. Zorro may exist outside the law, but he’s no gray-area vigilante; as ever, he has a firm sense of justice. So don’t expect the moral handwringing of so many modern series; this infectious and entertaining Zorro has the big, high-def widescreen look of new-era prestige TV but is a throwback at heart.
Zorro – International title
A 2022 U.S.A., Spanish TV series co-production [Secuoya
Studios, KC Global Media,
C&T Mobs,
No Status Quo studios (Los Angeles)]
Producers: Carlos Portelo, David Martinez, Andy Kaplan,
Sergio Pizzolante, Jesus
Torres-Viera,
Glenda Pacanins David Cotarelo, Ángela
Agudo, John Gertz
Directors: Javier Quintas, Jorge Saavedra José Luis
Alegría
Story: The Curse of Capistrano by Johnston McCulley
Teleplay: Carlos Portela
Photography: Álvaro Ruiz García [color]
Music: Iván Martínez Lacámara, Álvaro Peire
Running time: 10 episodes x 52 minutes
Cast:
Diego de la Vega/Zorro – Miguel Bernardeau
Alejandro De La Vega – Mark Lewis
Lolita Marquez - Renata Notni
Monasterio – Emiliano Zurita
Harriet Jones - Mirela Mambo
Governor - Rodolfo Sancho
Mudo - Paco Taos
Carmen de Madrid - Estibalitz Ruiz
Harriet Jones - Mireia Mambo
Felix Buendía – David Fleta
Margarita – Eva Camcho
Doble – Julien Lacabe
Cristóbal - José Gigar
Rosario - Gala Bichir
Barman - Angelo Olivier
Montaserio soldier - Alejandro Maró
Manuel Mayoral la Perla – Nestor Barreto
Felix Buendía – David Fleta
Mexican rancher – Pablo R. Montenegto
Barman – Angelo Olivier
With: Dalia Xiuhcoatl, Andrés Almeida, Elia Galera,
Francisco Reyes, Chacha Huang, Joel Bosqued, Peter Vives, Fele Martínez, José
Gigar, Fele Martínez, Andy Kaplan, Luis Tosar, Peter Vives
Stunt coordinator - Gregory Brossard, Alexis Arderius,
Zigor Yubero, Sergio De Val
Stunts: Zigor Yubero (Zorro double), Julien Lacabe,
Alejandro Bertero Álvarez, Tomás Paredes, Senna Rodríguez, Luis Rosel, Kike
Inchausti, Fernando Martín Maestro
Episode list: 1) The Chosen One, 2) Inheritance, 3) The
Bet, 4) Revenge, 5) The Execution, 6) Mask Games, 7) The Myth, 8) The Wedding,
9) Unmasked, 10) The Three Funeral Mask Dance
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