Zorro - Série de TV (2024) Review

Por um punhado de euros

By Pedro Pereira

It is not customary to discuss TV series here on the blog, but we are going to make an exception to cover Jean Dujardin’s return to the Western genre. After starring as Lucky Luke in the 2009 film, Dujardin now dons the cape of the Californian vigilante, Zorro. This time, it is in a serialized version brought to us by Paramount+ in 2024. The format is that of a miniseries, consisting of eight short episodes. And, as with previous adaptations of the pulp character, the tone leans toward comedy—though here it is more amped-up, yet unfortunately never quite reaches the level of being hilarious.

Dujardin is an effective actor with a long and multifaceted career already under his belt. He even won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2012 for his role as George Valentin in the silent film “The Artist’. He is capable of delivering roles with a dramatic bent as well as others that are completely nonsensical. I tend to prefer the latter—and perhaps that is why I was seriously frustrated by his portrayal of this masked hero, which pales in comparison to the highly politically incorrect secret agent from the spy-spoof franchise “OSS 117”—one of the French actor's best recent roles.

Unfortunately, the humor in this “Zorro” falls flat. The jokes are ineffective, and—because they are frequently sexualized—they contribute to alienating the traditional target audience for these adventures: families.

The series is set in 1821, when Don Diego de la Vega’s father serves as the Mayor of Los Angeles and faces a corrupt adversary: ​​Don Emmanuel. This takes place twenty years after Don Diego retired his alter ego, Zorro. Now in his fifties, Don Diego finds his aptitude and desire to fight social injustice largely held in check by a primary desire to reconnect with his wife, Doña Gabriella—with whom he shares a sterile relationship. The couple has been together for seventeen years; they have no children and no longer make love. It is the return of the masked hero that will ultimately reignite the spark.

Between the lines lies a message regarding immigration, as well as the exploitation of Native Americans and their customs. These are powerful and extremely timely messages—yet they fall short by getting lost in the superficiality with which they are presented. These are significant adaptations, which may prove somewhat disorienting to those familiar with the character through the classic Disney series—then starring the impeccable Guy Williams. These stories were also adapted into comic book form by the great master Alex Toth.

The success of these two formats has colored much of the perception we still hold of the character today, though I believe that by now, the primary reference has shifted to the 1998 film version (“The Mask of Zorro”), which catapulted the Andalusian Antonio Banderas onto the list of the world's most popular actors.

The series was filmed in Castile-La Mancha and Almería, which serve as the setting for the deserts of California; it was shot by a predominantly Spanish crew that repurposed the aesthetic of the sets from Ridley Scott’s “Exodus” and “Game of Thrones”. Ultimately, these are the very landscapes we saw in the hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s and 70s—a choice that lends the series absolutely impeccable cinematography.

[The series aired on RTP2 and can still be streamed via the RTP Play platform. ‘Zorro’ premiers in the U.S.A. on the Disney Channel on June 30, 2026.]