The Mask of Zorro (1998)
This podcast episode delves into the cinematic excellence of "The Mask of Zorro," a film that not only entertains but also exemplifies the art of storytelling through its remarkable cast and production quality. The hosts articulate their admiration for the performances, particularly highlighting Antonio Banderas, who masterfully balances the duality of his character, Zorro, and the thief he once was. The discussion emphasizes the film's successful blend of humor and action, noting how the choreography of the sword-fighting scenes pays homage to classic swashbuckling cinema while remaining engaging to contemporary audiences. Furthermore, the hosts reflect on the significance of the supporting cast, particularly Anthony Hopkins, whose presence elevates the film and enriches the narrative. Ultimately, this episode serves as a tribute to a film that, despite its campy elements, resonates with viewers and remains a beloved classic.
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Transcript
I think of Philadelphia and he just played a bit part in Philadelphia, but he stole every scene he was in.
Speaker A:And how do you steal a scene from freaking Tom Hanks?
Speaker A:And you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, not easy.
Speaker A:Denzel Washington they're in.
Speaker A:He's in a scene with these two and he's the one I'm looking at.
Speaker A:Welcome to the what's a break podcast.
Speaker A:We fashion ourselves cinematic judge and jury.
Speaker A:My name is JJ Carter with my co host Alec Burgess.
Speaker B:Let's get it.
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Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker B:Statues limitations are up on anything I'd.
Speaker A:Be concerned about, so fair enough.
Speaker A:No statute of limitations means nothing to the Mask of Zorro anyway, so, yeah, there it is.
Speaker A:And we're starting a new month.
Speaker A:It's July.
Speaker A:Crazy town that it's already July.
Speaker A:But we're doing in honor of summer being here in full swing.
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Speaker A:So movies that were considered blockbusters, which.
Speaker A:That's a whole different conversation.
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Speaker A:But yeah, so all the.
Speaker A:All the movies this month of July will be blockbuster films.
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Speaker A:So let's jump into July 1 episode, The Mask of Zorro.
Speaker A: ,: Speaker A:It was written by Johnston McCully, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.
Speaker A:It was directed by Martin Campbell.
Speaker A:It stars.
Speaker A:Here we go.
Speaker A:Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Katherine Zeta Jones, Jose Maria de Tavira, Diego Sieras, Emiliano Guerra, Stuart Wilson, Tony Amendola, Juliet Arin, Victor Rivers.
Speaker A:I could keep going, but I'm going to say.
Speaker A:And Luisa Huertas.
Speaker A:And we'll stop there.
Speaker A:It's about a young thief seeking revenge for his brother's death who's trained by the once great aging Zorro who was pursuing his own vengeance.
Speaker B:It's a pretty good synopsis, covers all the main bases.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it, that was pretty.
Speaker A:It was pretty thorough.
Speaker A:This was your movie, Alec.
Speaker A:Tell us why you picked the Mask of Zorro, dude.
Speaker B:Why not?
Speaker B:No, this, this was going to go on the list because it's that summertime feel.
Speaker B:For me, this is a movie that you're like done grilling, getting out of the pool or whatever or even on the, you know, those like summertime movie passes that they used to do for like kids and stuff like that.
Speaker B:That this is a movie that I slot right into there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's one that I enjoy.
Speaker B:Go back to time and time again.
Speaker B:It's funny, it's enjoyable and it's got an all star cast.
Speaker B:I usually read the cast list.
Speaker B:That is an amazing cast and it's great because there's not one singular reason why this movie's good.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's not all on Anthony Hopkins, it's not all on Antonio Banderas.
Speaker B:Everybody contributes to making this movie better.
Speaker B:And it feels as well that it was just kind of organically allowed to grow into what it became.
Speaker B:There's a lot of little side jokes.
Speaker A:Or.
Speaker B:Things that kind of happen that you have to wonder that there's no way that was in the script.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:This is a little bit of.
Speaker B:We have a Good team.
Speaker B:We have a good team of actors.
Speaker B:You know, fall, follow the general outline, but see what else you can add into it.
Speaker B:Because it's just there.
Speaker B:There's so many things where I was.
Speaker B:Where when I watched it again, I was like, there's no way that, you know, the directors going, okay, Antonio, when you're showing off your sword skills, right?
Speaker B:I need more.
Speaker B:I need more chest.
Speaker B:When you're.
Speaker B:When you're posturing, type of like, there's no way that's happening.
Speaker B:That's just, hey, you.
Speaker B:You don't know anything about a sword, right?
Speaker B:Kind of.
Speaker B:But you think you do, right?
Speaker B:And go.
Speaker B:Antonio just goes.
Speaker B:And so there's little things like that throughout the entire movie where it's almost like this was like, they had a definite plan, but within that plan, they were okay with making little deviations if necessary in order to make it flow better, if that makes any sense.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:What about you, jj?
Speaker B:You ever seen this movie before?
Speaker A:Yeah, just a few times.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:This movie is quite the conundrum for me, because I remember I was 17 when this movie came out.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And this was one of those films that I look at as, like, I remember this summer 98.
Speaker A:And then I remember the next year 99, because the Matrix came out.
Speaker A:And so, like, there was this dichotomy between a couple of years when I was 17, 18, 19 years old, where you were starting to see the advent of we're lazy and we're running out of content, original content.
Speaker A:So let's go back and revisit things.
Speaker A:And so you started to see back then a lot of, like, forced sequels or remakes.
Speaker A:That's when that kind of.
Speaker A: time frame, early: Speaker A:Let's remake it, reboot it, or do a reboot sequel, if you will, which.
Speaker A:This one would probably fall into that category.
Speaker A:I think what set this one apart, when I say all that, is to say that this one stands alone for me, because it wasn't a reboot.
Speaker A: d to be a sequel from the old: Speaker A:And then that's why you get Anthony Hopkins as Zorro, who's training the next Zorro.
Speaker A:And then it was this whole, you know, extension where it was very different than what we were used to from Zorro and yet it was still the same.
Speaker A:So I think that's why it worked in a lot of ways.
Speaker A:Where other what I call again those four stream makes or four sequels didn't, but this one does.
Speaker A:And then going off of the other reasons that it worked is exactly what you talked about.
Speaker A:The cast, get out of here.
Speaker A:This is one of the best casts, bar none.
Speaker A:Whether you like this movie or not, because at the time the Catherine say Jones, this was like her peak.
Speaker A:This was Antonio Banderas peak.
Speaker A:Anthony Hopkins has been peak since the day he stepped by in front of a camera.
Speaker A:So you just.
Speaker A:And then, I mean you got.
Speaker A:There's so many people.
Speaker A:The Dawns are all great at, you know, it's just like there's always something in this movie that's being done very well because.
Speaker A:And it's good because I'll be honest with you.
Speaker A:Like I find the story of Zorro like boring.
Speaker A:Like I'm not, I'm not a Zorro fan.
Speaker A:Like I'm not like, like my parents grew up watching the original Zorro TV show and, and reading the old comic strips and that Zora and they loved it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:But it was like never something that I got into.
Speaker A:But I can still sit down and enjoy this film because of how technically sound and how funny and how visually beautiful it is.
Speaker A:And like it makes sense.
Speaker A:The story is cohesive and everyone, like you said, has their part to play in it.
Speaker A:And then it's unexpected.
Speaker A:Like you don't expect Catherine Zeta Jones character to whip this dude's ass in a sword fight.
Speaker A:At first, you know, you're like, wait, what the.
Speaker A:And then you're like, oh, okay, she's Zorro's daughter.
Speaker A:So that makes more sense, right?
Speaker A:Like she's been trained since she was a kid.
Speaker A:So yeah, like I just love what they did with it.
Speaker A:And it's one of those movies where I'm like, ah, Zorro, I'm out.
Speaker A:And then I go, oh, that was good.
Speaker A:Okay, that's fair.
Speaker A:So I like, I like it from that perspective because I went into it, going to watch.
Speaker A:I think I took a date to it because she was like, let's go.
Speaker A:And I was like, ah, really?
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker A:And then I was like, okay, I walked.
Speaker A:I was like, you're right, that was cool.
Speaker A:So yeah, it was good.
Speaker A:I hadn't watched this in years.
Speaker A:A long ass time.
Speaker A:Because again, it's not.
Speaker A:I'm not Zorro.
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker A:It's not something I'M ever gonna be like, yeah, I should go watch it.
Speaker A:But it's always a pleasant surprise when I do.
Speaker A:So it was nice.
Speaker B:You touched a little bit on something that I wanted to bring up, which is the sword fighting in this thing is phenomenal.
Speaker B:So what I love about it is that it's clearly they practiced.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And they, they rehearsed and choreographed what's going to happen.
Speaker B:And it's very reminiscent of like old time Hollywood swashbuckler, Errol Flynn type of movies, which I love because it's not cut, cut, cut that you'd get nowadays when you do like these intense sequences.
Speaker B:It's letting it go through, it's hectic, it's crazy, it's chaotic, it's not as clean as if you do the cut, cut, cut.
Speaker B:But it's so much better because you can see the practice that went into it.
Speaker B:And it's not just, you know, it's not like the stunt guys are having to wait their turn.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:To, you know, go up and hit Antonio Banderas and wait, wait, wait and go there.
Speaker B:You know, it's, it's moving quickly and he's keeping up, hitting his marks.
Speaker B:And it looks like an actual sword fight.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:There's only one part that I didn't like and it's when Captain Blonde Beard just like is wailing on him.
Speaker B:Like he's got a. Yeah, he's got like a two handed, like a big ass broad sword.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, he's just wailing.
Speaker B:I was like, you're not carrying the right sword for that.
Speaker B:But you know, it's the emotion piece is what he's trying to communicate the actor at that time.
Speaker B:But the actual swords fight sequences, all of them are really, really good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, you'd want him to be with the character Zorro, but these are really good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so that's something that is like helps pull me in and keep me into a story, like you said.
Speaker B:I mean, Zorro's not something I ever really grew up with in the storytelling and the comics and TV show.
Speaker B:That was never it.
Speaker B:But this is enough to keep me around and invested in it.
Speaker B:And a story that I don't know a huge amount of backstory aside from, you know, mass vigilante.
Speaker A:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:It's, it's Batman, but with the, with the fencing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Type of a thing.
Speaker B:And so it's, it's, but it just does a phenomenal job.
Speaker B:And every single sword fighting sequence is just beautifully done without having to add all the excess cuts that we would get today or the, you know, camera angle going up and down.
Speaker B:You're following almost like a first person view camera to kind of create the atmosphere, environment.
Speaker B:It's just straight sword fighting on the screen.
Speaker B:And it's good sword fighting.
Speaker A:Very good, Very good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'm one too that like, I think one, I agree with you.
Speaker A:We don't.
Speaker A:Jump cuts in movies piss me off.
Speaker A:And, and they're so common now that like.
Speaker A:And it kind of, I think it kind of gets worse and worse depending on how Hollywood's doing.
Speaker A:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:One, who's directing it.
Speaker A:But two, like a lot of times they want to stick.
Speaker A:Like we, before we start recording, you were talking about Taken and like I think about Liam Neeson and when he filmed Taken like he's an old man, you know, I mean like I'm, I'm 45 years old and I'm not.
Speaker A:Listen, I'm not in good shape by any stretch, but like, even when I was in good shape in my 30s, like running around like they do in some of these action movies, I'm like, get the out of here, dude.
Speaker A:He's like 55, 60 years old when he filmed this.
Speaker A:He's not jumping over fences and stuff.
Speaker A:And so you see these jump cuts that allow them to like see their face when they start.
Speaker A:And then we get the jump cut so that we see the, the stunt double doing the actual stunt.
Speaker A:And I'm like, the fact that we don't have that as much in a movie like this.
Speaker A:And I mean there's a couple spots where you had to do a little bit of it, but it wasn't like you say every swing had a different jump cut to it.
Speaker A:And it was like you could tell that they sat around and I go back to like episode three of Star wars, like the Anakin Obi Wan fight.
Speaker A:That's another one that you can tell like these mother work.
Speaker A:Were doing that and they put in the work and they were, you know, training for it.
Speaker A:So I appreciate what you're saying there too.
Speaker A:And then the other piece that I think that they were genius with is getting Antonio Banderas as the new Zorro as this main character.
Speaker A:Because I have, I have and I.
Speaker A:He's one of these.
Speaker A:Everybody knows his name, everybody knows who he is.
Speaker A:He's played some major ass roles, but he's never been the first person to leave a lot of people's lips when you're like, name some of your favorite actors.
Speaker A:Yeah, Antonio Banderas is one of my favorites.
Speaker A:Like, and long before this came out like I could go back to like Desperado and like all of those movies.
Speaker A:The, the.
Speaker A:And then I think of Philadelphia and he just played a bit part in Philadelphia, but he stole every scene he was in.
Speaker A:And how do you steal a scene from freaking Tom Hanks?
Speaker A:And you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, not easy.
Speaker A:Denzel Washington they're in.
Speaker A:He's in a scene with these two and he's the one I'm looking at.
Speaker A:So that's the kind of thing that where I think he play.
Speaker A:He takes a back seat to a lot of big A list actors.
Speaker A:But this movie always reminds me of why I love him so much.
Speaker A:Because the performance of Zorro.
Speaker A:And if you've ever now that anybody that's ever looked at the Zorro, like the comics and then like the store, like the, the books and then like the, the old TV show, like he's flamboyant and he's all over the place.
Speaker A:And they do that a little bit in this.
Speaker A:But I love that when he's not Zorro, he's not that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And like to be able to give that performance and split that dichotomy of yourself and go, okay, I know I have to play this Zorro character.
Speaker A:And then on the other side, I'm this damaged guy that was a thief and like living on the wrong side of the law because I had to like the subtle performance that he gives and then the over the top performance.
Speaker A:That switch to me is so good.
Speaker A:And then again to be able to stand next to Catherine Zeta Jones and Anthony Hopkins and actually stand out in a scene.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:Out of here.
Speaker B:That's a easiest thing.
Speaker A:Talent.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I really appreciate Antonio Banderas and the casting of him in this film.
Speaker B:He did a fantastic job.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's, it's, it's one of those things that you're talking about, like the switch back and forth between Zorro and Alejandro.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But then in addition to that, it's like the, the character development.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:As you're going through, you see the confidence building.
Speaker B:Like when he's playing both roles.
Speaker B:Like the, the, the part I laugh the most at is the garrison fight near the beginning where it's like he first goes to steal the horse.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:As Zorro and he's just, you know, tripping over himself.
Speaker B:He can't figure it out.
Speaker B:He's got all the bravado in the world, but none of the real kind of talent or skill or practice yet to go out and make it happen.
Speaker B:And so this just brawl that happens in the, in the fight is just hilarious to me because he's got his, you know, homemade Zorro cape because the mask isn't enough.
Speaker B:You need cape too.
Speaker B:He's recreating this character from what he remembers.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But in the same time, you know, he's still got his white shirt on that sticks out like a sore thumb.
Speaker B:And, you know, he's, he's just very much like, I'll, I'll just wean it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:I'll wing it on, on the fly.
Speaker B:I'll figure it out as I go.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because I'm Zorro.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And it just is a far crying difference from later in the movie where we get him going into the governor's mansion or whatever it is as Zorro, fully kidded.
Speaker B:Now he's got a plan.
Speaker B:He's got the calm confidence, you know, he's kind of tempered down the bravado, but he's still got that flamboyant kinda, you know, I'm, I'm better than you.
Speaker B:I know it.
Speaker B:You know it.
Speaker B:Even if I'm not better than you, I'm still better than you type of a thing.
Speaker B:So he's got all the confidence.
Speaker B:But it's such a great transition from, you know, the, the character development that's happening in the movie.
Speaker B:And it's all just because Antonio Banderas is who he is and he's able to convey that.
Speaker B:And not a lot of actors, I think, could do it as effectively or showcase that super well when you're given the runtime that.
Speaker B:Because it's not an incredibly long movie.
Speaker A:No, it's incredibly short, actually, for a lot of these epic movies.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so it's a, it's a time constraint that's thrown in there as well.
Speaker B:But he does such a good job of, you know, the make, taking you on a journey that's happening over the course of months.
Speaker B:But, you know, condense it down into one very reasonably length of an at live action film.
Speaker B:So it's so cool.
Speaker B:Very well done.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I'd be remiss if we had a movie with Anthony Hopkins in it.
Speaker A:And I didn't talk about it because at the same token, like, this is a, it's a side character technically in this movie.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But he still.
Speaker A:God damn it, that man is like.
Speaker A:I have a hard time not arguing that he's the greatest actor of my generation and maybe my parents generation too, but certainly, like, there's a lot when I think about my generation, but he is up there and like, this is Another, like the washed up superhero or like hero falls on hard times because he's bored as.
Speaker A:And has lost his, like, drive or whatever you want to.
Speaker A:We've seen it a billion times, but nobody quite does it as well as Anthony Hopkins does in this moment.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I, I just think it's.
Speaker A:He elevates it.
Speaker A:I think it would have been a good.
Speaker A:And I think about it sometimes when I'm doing that exercise with such a good actor.
Speaker A:I go, what would this film have been without them?
Speaker A:Would it have been as good?
Speaker A:And I go, this movie would have been fine without him, but he elevates it so much more that it becomes a great film instead of a good film.
Speaker A:Because I think without him it still would have been good, but with him it's great.
Speaker A:And, and so that's another testament to just the acting in general.
Speaker A:Because I also think this movie would have sucked balls with the wrong cast, which I think is why you had to have the cast.
Speaker A:When we go down this cast list and we're like, jesus Christ, this was stacked.
Speaker A:It had to be, because without this cast, it would have been terrible because it's campy, it's goofy, it's like the jokes land, but if they didn't, you'd be like, what the fuck am I watching right now?
Speaker A:And it's that close.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:On some of them you're like, did.
Speaker B:I really just laugh at that?
Speaker A:That's fucking funny.
Speaker A:But I shouldn't think it's funny.
Speaker A:But the delivery.
Speaker A:And so it's.
Speaker A:I think this is one of those movies.
Speaker A:A lot of times we talked about movies that are really good because of their story and the actors just made it better.
Speaker A:This story is just whatever.
Speaker A:It's not great, it's just a whatever story.
Speaker A:But it's elevated to a crazy level because of the cast.
Speaker A:And I'll even say the director, like the, the choices that director made to force them to actually do the sword fighting and to do some of their own stunts and the way that they cut it together, it's reminiscent of a bygone time that we just don't see anymore, where it was like, let's make this solid movie and we'll figure it out.
Speaker A:And it.
Speaker A:It paid off.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think something else that popped into my head was the fact that on the first kind of couple watch throughs, I. I still want Anthony Hopkins to be Zorro, like in the Trainee sequence or as you realize that there's going to be less and less of him.
Speaker B:It's almost like a bit Of a letdown.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:As you start to realize it and, you know, because that's who we're introduced to at the beginning is this is Zorro.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And then age kind of takes his toll or whatever.
Speaker B:And so Antonio Banderas has to kind of come in and earn his spot as Zorro.
Speaker B:And I think the fact that, you know, you have the training montage where Anthony Hopkins is just wailing on him repeatedly and he does such a good job of just the nonchalant, like you.
Speaker B:You don't have what it takes type of a thing.
Speaker B:You got to prove it to me.
Speaker B:At the same time, we, as the audience almost have that same mentality as you got to prove it to me because I liked him a lot.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So the fact that, you know, we don't get to see Anthony Hopkins re.
Speaker B:Suit up as Zorro in his own way.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:It's now that passing of the torch, but it's done in such a way that it's not just handed over.
Speaker B:Like Antonio Banderas has to go out and earn that kind of torch handing off in the movie as Zorro.
Speaker B:And just an acting situation as well, that Anthony Hopkins, because he comes in, he's the center of the tension.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Oh, this movie's about Anthony Hopkins.
Speaker A:Nope.
Speaker B:Just kidding.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so you have this kind of like, almost let down that they do a really good job of tying back into the story so by the end of it, we can have the conversation of.
Speaker B:That was such a great.
Speaker B:You know, like, Anthony Hopkins did a great job instead of.
Speaker B:I wish there was more Anthony Hopkins.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Or things of that nature.
Speaker B:Or I wish there was more of this or it would have been better if they'd done this or type of a thing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:He's so good.
Speaker B:He really is.
Speaker A:He just.
Speaker B:Man, it's not fair is what it is.
Speaker A:Oh, no question.
Speaker A:It's like, this is some so good.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I just keep thinking about, like, this was like a sleeper, even though it was like a blockbuster, but I don't know that anybody.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Maybe I'm wrong, but I. I'm trying to think back, and I do remember when this came out and everybody was like, oh, I would love everybody that's in this, but.
Speaker A:And I think it was funny.
Speaker A:So the.
Speaker A:The part I always think of is in the.
Speaker A:The trailer that I.
Speaker A:That got all us stupid teenagers excited was when he hacks off her shirt or whatever and the hair's coming and I don't like.
Speaker A:I sit and I think about the marketing, and we never talk about this, but I think the marketing for this was good enough too, to get people there and then let them maybe carry on through to go, yes.
Speaker A:This is a good movie, guys.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:They knew I would sell tickets.
Speaker A:It's not just about almost seeing Catherine Zeta Jones's tits.
Speaker A:It's like, this is a good movie with that in it, which turns out to just be more of a funny part than a.
Speaker A:An actual, like.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I don't know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I can't say enough about.
Speaker A:It's really good movie that I. I want to hate, to be honest with you, but I can't.
Speaker A:It's so good.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's the little things they do really well at, like the funny jokes, the running into walls, the jumping off big buildings.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's just everybody, like, even extras got their funny joke.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or characters that are playing small bit parts got their funny little joke.
Speaker B:Like I love at the beginning where the friar just like totally elbows the soldier is gonna take a shot at Zorro.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's funny humor.
Speaker B:And you're cracking up while it's happening.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:And it's just so great.
Speaker B:And so there's time and time again you have that or, you know, you have where he kicks the two soldiers out of the door or out of the window in the governor's mansion or whatever he is, but he's like.
Speaker B:He does it so nonchalant, like, drop your swords, come over here, bend over.
Speaker B:And it's just like, excuse me for a second.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's the little kind of almost in between parts of, you know, it's not relying on just straight up action.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It has these little moments where interactions are funny or they're just kind of thrown together.
Speaker B:And it would be hokey, like you said, if it didn't land right or if you had someone else delivering it or if you tried to force it too hard, but because you have the right people in the right spot and you have the kind of action scenes that help balance it all out.
Speaker B:Like this become good comic relief moments instead of just hokey jokes.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I'm with her, too.
Speaker B:I love this movie, but I don't watch it enough.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which I also think plays well for it too, because I think it.
Speaker A:It doesn't.
Speaker A:I don't get oversaturated with it.
Speaker A:I'm like.
Speaker A:Because I don't watch it a lot, so when I do watch it, I'M like, oh yeah, this is a good movie.
Speaker A:I should watch this more.
Speaker A:And then I don't for another five years or so and then it's like, oh yeah, it's a good movie.
Speaker A:Should we rate it?
Speaker B:Let's do it.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Your movie, you're first.
Speaker B:My movie, I'm first.
Speaker B:I'm giving it a four.
Speaker B:It's a really, really good movie.
Speaker B:It's a blockbuster for me.
Speaker B:It's does just about everything right there is great cast, great acting, funny jokes.
Speaker B:It's short, but at the same time it's enjoyable to watch because we've had did some short movies last month that were an absolute.
Speaker B:Like, I've never seen an hour long movie that's six hours long.
Speaker B:And we had a couple of those, but this one is just, it's going, it's fast paced.
Speaker B:I can sit down and watch it pretty much anytime.
Speaker B:Although I don't actively seek it out.
Speaker B:But I might give it a 4.
Speaker B:I will be watching again.
Speaker B:Don't know when, but it'll happen.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'll enjoy it then too.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:Yeah, I'm actually gonna go a little higher than you.
Speaker A:I'm gonna give it a four and a half.
Speaker A:I think the, I think the acting carries it through.
Speaker A:I think without the actors that are in it and the cast that's there, it would be a much worse movie.
Speaker A:So I give a lot of weight to the, the movie because of the cast and who's in it and how they play it.
Speaker A:But yeah, I think it's entertaining and to your point, like it's a two hour movie.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a little over two hours, but it feels like a 90 minute movie at best because the pacing is perfect, the comedy's good.
Speaker A:The mix of comedy and drama and like, oh God, is it gonna.
Speaker A:And then like, yeah, it's just, it's well done enough that you don't feel like you spent two hours watching this movie.
Speaker A:And that's a testament to any movie that can make me feel like that.
Speaker A:That's great because I've bitched for five, six years now about movies that I'm like, that was a slog and this is not it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like this one feels good and clean.
Speaker A:It moves and you're like, oh, it's over.
Speaker A:What happened in the last two hours?
Speaker A:Like, it felt like I was just started.
Speaker A:So very good movie, very good acting.
Speaker A:Visually stunning.
Speaker A:Like it was just well made.
Speaker A:And as much as I want to bash on it and hate it, I can't because.
Speaker A:Because it was just done very well.
Speaker A:So four and a half for me.
Speaker A:I'm sure I'll watch it again.
Speaker A:But I couldn't tell you when I.
Speaker A:You know, it's one of those things where I won't even think about this movie again until all of a sudden I'll just be like, oh, you know what we should watch.
Speaker A:Or it'll be on as I'm flipping through like streaming services.
Speaker A:Be like, oh, I always watch Mas Kazoro because that looks good right now.
Speaker A:So yeah, really good movie.
Speaker A:All right, Tell everybody they can find us when we're not searching for our own vigilante sword fighter.
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Speaker A:A J.J. yes sir, that's me.
Speaker A:Yeah, thanks buddy.
Speaker A:And yeah, go check all those places out.
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Speaker A:Cinematica.
