The Legend of Zorro

Composed by James Horner

Orchestrated by James Horner, Randy Kerber, Bruce Babcock,

                             Eddie Karam, Jon Kull, Conrad Pope, and

                             David Slonaker

Conducted by James Horner

Produced by Simon Rhodes and James Horner

Released by Sony Classical Records on October 25th, 2005

Total Running Time: 75:41

     1998’s The Mask of Zorro was quite a pleasant surprise. It sort of snuck onto the scene, left its mark, and then quickly departed, enjoying a good theatrical run and then a successful video/DVD release. The mix of action, comedy, and drama was well-received and Martin Campbell (of Goldeneye fame), managed to successfully resurrect an old-style “superhero” quite well. The sequel, having come now seven years after the first, has instead met with tepid critical response. Even so, I found it to be an enjoyable, humor-filled, action-adventure movie. And at least it had real stunts going for it, which was a nice change of pace after the CG affairs that audiences have had pounded into them since The Matrix. It’s not as strong of a film as Mask, but it still enjoyable in its own right.

     This is also decidedly true of James Horner’s score. Horner is a composer who has provided solid work recently, but nothing that has really stood out. His last memorable score of note was A Beautiful Mind back in 2001, and his latest big-budget effort, Troy, pretty much passed away with little fanfare. His biggest problem here lately seems to be that he has taken to copy the least excitable aspects of his previous works. Coincidentally, he actually makes up for this with The Legend of Zorro for the ending crescendo, but more on that later. All the major themes from the first score have returned, and are more or less intact. This includes the “stomping” effects as well, and the opening of the score is almost the same as the first (though a little slower and it doesn’t segue into a driving performance of the main theme). Since the themes were such a wonderful part of the first score, it is indeed welcome that after seven years Horner has the presence of mind to revisit them all. The style is also the same, though with a bit more Latin influence to it, and the shakuhachi even makes a return appearance though used a bit less this time around.

     Still, for all the familiar elements, Horner just can’t bring this one together as well as he did for original. This score, much like his other recent works,  begins to meander around at spots.  It threatens to degenerate into musical wallpaper with elements that simply remind the listener about his much superior score for the first film. There is nothing like “The Fencing Lesson” or “The Ride” here, and even the action-oriented climax fails to pull in the same power as “Leave No Witnesses…” It’s frustrating because the seeds are there and there are plenty of reasons to enjoy this score, but they never sprout into anything that leaves as much of a lasting impression. At least in the end Horner pulls an interesting twist on the score by having the climax mimic the same idea that he used for the end credits of The Wrath of Khan. That said, even if the material isn’t up to snuff at times, the performances are still rousing throughout and possess good energy.

     The Legend of Zorro is competent and fits well among other scores released this year, but it doesn’t totally grasp what was found in the original. Zorro fans will enjoy this for a return to the material that was so loved in 1998, and as companion albums go, it could have been a lot worse. Still worth recommending, however, if you’re in the mood for a style that harkens back to the heroes of yesteryear.

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