| Which is the better film? | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Mask of Zorro | The Count of Monte Cristo | |
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Each is a swashbuckling adventure set to the backdrop of political upheaval caused by a revolutionary military leader (Santa Anna/Napoléon Bonaparte) where a greedy man of status (Rafael Montero/Fernand Mondego) causes the destruction of the life of a good man he was jealous of (Diego de la Vega/Edmond Dantès), leaves him incarcerated, and takes someone close to him (Diego's daughter Elena/Edmond's fiancee Mercédès) as family of his own. After spending years locked up, he'd eventually escape by hiding in one of the prison's body bags that gets taken out to be disposed of. Concurrently it is the story of a young illiterate man (Alejandro Murrieta/Edmond Dantès) out for revenge against those who have wronged him (Captain Harrison Love/Fernand Mondego, J.F. Villefort & Danglars) who is taken under the wing of a wise wrongfully-imprisoned mentor (Diego de la Vega/Abbé Faria) who teaches him in multiple fields that help refine him into a gentleman including swordplay. Leading to the young man adopting a new aristocratic identity (Don Alejandro del Castillo y García, as well as Zorro/The Count of Monte Cristo) that allows him to infiltrate the high society world of the corrupt in order to bring justice down upon them. The conflict culminating into a conspiracy over a fortune in gold. (The El Dorado Gold Mine/The Treasure of Spada) By the end the mentor dies, though not without leaving a fortune in the possession of his student, and the villains face punishment for their crimes. And the protagonist ultimately ends up getting to be with his love interest (Elena/Mercédès) and their son (Joaquín/Albert) to begin life anew.