This version of Zorro is simply epic. The first historical Philippine drama; well, forget about that disastrous, short-lived Princess Sarah, this is the sh*t! It stars Richard Gutierrez, Rhian Ramos, TJ Trinidad, Michelle Madrigal, Jacklyn Jose, Joel Torre, Bianca King etc.
Based on the popular (probably the most famous) swashbuckler character created by Johnston McCulley. This version of Zorro retells the novella The Curse of Capistrano, the first ever Zorro "adventure". Just like the novella, the series details at a man's steady recreation from a boy orphan through his chaotic adolescence to the turbulent power struggle with the Spanish government of the 17th century, and to finally becoming a legendary masked-hero.
It's beautiful, it's moving, its well-acted, well-written, well-directed, well-scored. The action, the comedy, the drama... all balanced to a dose perfect for television viewing. It's fantastic how each episode is creating a tension building up to its inevitable future. What I love about this series is how it is able to touch upon the right elements, humour, sadness, action and pathos - each character (well, the main ones, at least) are 3-dimentional, they breathe and live like we do. And the writing is lush(!) - the dialogues are powerful and the scenes fast moving.
Acting wise? You get what you get from Richard Gutierrez, I don't think its ever the director's fault now. Gutierrez still pulls the same faces, even excellent directors couldn't make him. However, despite that, Gutierrez does pull of some good acting chops (but nothing major). TJ Trinidad is strong, brooding and quite possible scary, only an amazing actor can pull of the "evil man, but abides by the law" role, and Trinidad certainly pulled it off. Rhian Ramos is better than ever, but I can't help that her beauty doesn't seem to fit the setting the drama is trying to create. Nevertheless, Ramos still performs above the standards.
I am amazed how faithful the writers are to its original novella, even to the littlest characters. Kudos to Mark A. Reyes and Dominic Zapata for teaming up again to possibly making the best Richard Gutierrez starer, maybe outdoing their last team-up with Mulawin, five years prior!
