In the normal Boxing Day tradition we toddled off to the movies yesterday and, after much squabbling among friends and family, settled on The Legend of Zorro with Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and the funniest horse ever to hit the big screen.

As one of the people who didn't particularly want to see this movie I have to say it was a surprisingly entertaining movie. The story wasn't brilliant and the movie is full of corny bits of unbelievable swashbuckling but it is entertainment pure and simple.  If you like any of the Indiana Jones movies or The Mummy or The Mask of Zorro then I think you'll enjoy this one.

The story is set approximately 10 years after The Mask of Zorro where Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) passed the mantle of being Zorro to Alejandro de la Vega (Banderas).  In this movie it is 1850 and the people of California are voting to become the 31st state in the union of states which is America.  There are, of course, are group of evil dudes who don't want this to happen and they invent nitro-glycerine to assist them in their efforts to prevent America becoming a strong united country.

The slightly convoluted plot involves Elena de la Vega (Zeta-Jones) divorcing her husband so that she can allow herself to be courted by the main evil dude who is a member of some secret society (reminiscent of the Illuminati which pervades the Da Vinci Code).

Lots of the reviews of this movie have not been glowing but I say that if you take it for what it is, light-hearted entertainment with a good dose of self-deprecating humour then you will enjoy it.  Banderas is genuinely funny (and looks pretty cute too), the horse is hysterical and the young boy who plays the de la Vega son Joaquin is outstanding.  Most importantly in these depressing times good triumphs over evil and everyone feels like cheering at the end of the movie.

My rating 4 out of 5 stars

Check out http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thelegendofzorro/ for the official movie site or http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0386140/ for all the IMDB details including other reviews (many of which are not nearly as glowing as this one)