Some seven years ago, THE MASK OF ZORRO took many by surprise in terms of the quality of movie and for soundtrack fans, the quality of the score. THE MASK OF ZORRO is easily one of composer JAMES HORNER'S most entertaining scores of the last ten years.The rumor of a sequel had been around since the successful 1998 feature film release, but it didn't come to fruition until the Fall of 2005. While this sequel has not garnered the critical or public acclaim as its predecessor, the film does carry on some of the positive aspects of the first film and among them JAMES HORNER'S score.
Maintaning its high-energy, romantic flow, THE LEGEND OF ZORRO is a lively and worthy musical sequel. Without becoming painfully derivative, THE LEGEND OF ZORRO is another adventurous romp that sees the return of the main Zorro theme and the Elena/Love Theme, those flamenco dancers, and tradmark shakuhachi flute accents.
While its hard to pin down what seperates THE LEGEND OF ZORRO from THE MASK OF ZORRO in terms of the score, the clearest way to describe is that THE LEGEND OF ZORRO re-delivers those themes that were developed in the first film in a more mature fashion. The sound seems bigger, bolder, and with more depth than the first. And while I couldn't say it actually surpasses the first, I do have to admit that it I was surprised that it wasn't more of a straight rehash of THE MASK OF ZORRO.
Credit must be given to JAMES HORNER for originally developing themes and motifs that he could quote, rearrange, and expand upon without becoming tiresome.
Tracksounds Rating: 8/10
