Zorro de Mayo? Cool frijoles! Gonna cover the 1940 Tyrone Power flick? Where Zorro is actually set up as kinda-explicitly Spanish, and not vaguely-Mexican(-American), which would at the least fit Banderas? ‘Cuz I actually saw that recently. Not exactly a match for “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, given that there was really only one decent fight scene, but OK….I guess. Well worth a look from a classicist point of view, if you’re going for completionism.

Nice Klaus Badelt ripoff score. Which is fine, ‘cuz he’s ripped off plenty of others, so it’s all fair game now.

A Zorro movie actually did a “crotch-blow-followed-by-reaction-shot” thing? That’s seriously pathetic. Might as well cut away to a dog holding its paw over its eyes. A crotch shot is one thing, but ANY reaction shot is the kiss of death for remotely sophisticated comedy. Never, EVER, a sign of a remotely-classy movie.

Regarding the Americanization of it all…would Zorro REALLY be so objectionable to “his” California being part of the US, as opposed to Mexico? Does he really come off that much as a nationalist to you, or just some guy who only cares about the well-being of the commoners? I’d like to think a caped crusader wouldn’t be so petty as to hold nationalism above anything else. And while America wasn’t exactly accepting of “minorities” during the late 19th century, it’s not like Mexico didn’t have its own share of problems during that period. At worst, Alejandro wouldn’t be able to pass himself off as an landed aristocrat (if that’s even part of his disguise, as was for the original de la Vega), but as a vigilante…why not? At the very least, some less cartoonishly-evil American villains? ‘Cuz both movies so clearly had them. I mean…pickling a guy’s severed head in brine and keeping it as a keepsake? Most Nazis would prolly be taken aback at that.

P.S. NitroGLYcerin is pronounced with a short “y”. As in “I”. As in “itty bitty little kitten”.