As a heroic, almost mythical figure, Zorro is kind of cool.

Unfortunately, as a movie, “The Mask of Zorro” isn’t all that interesting. The Zorro parts are fun to watch and are sort of entertaining, but most of the rest of the movie just sits there. At almost two-and-a-half hours long, the movie wears out its welcome.

Anthony Hopkins stars as the original Zorro, and in the lively opening sequence he swings in to rescue several peasants facing execution, fights off dozens of guards and soldiers using only his wits and his sword, slices his trademark “Z” into the neck of the evil governor and (so there is a good shot to put in the television commercials) pauses momentarily astride his mighty stallion in front of the setting sun.

Flash forward 20 years as Zorro escapes from prison as a man who has lost everything. His wife has been killed and his daughter raised by the above evil governor. Can you say revenge plot?

Antonio Banderas joins Hopkins at this point to train to be the new Zorro. Hopkins becomes Yoda to Banderas’ Luke. I kept expecting him to say something like “Do or do not. There is no try” during their almost five-minute training sequence.

The plot of the rest of the movie doesn’t really matter — some convoluted stuff about slave labor, stolen gold and avenging past wrongs.

Also, the main events of the story are completely predictable. Gee, I wonder if both Zorros will end up dueling it out with their respective mortal enemies in the finale? I wonder if they’ll win?

A movie like “The Mask of Zorro” depends a lot on the villains, and the bad guys here are more bland than bad. One guy is interesting only because he keeps a decapitated head in a jar of water on his desk — if you’d call that interesting.

I will say that both Hopkins and Banderas do great jobs conveying a swashbuckling sense of exuberance to their scenes. Another nice surprise is Catherine Zeta-Jones, who is a perfect mix of sexy and feisty.

Still, likable stars can’t save “The Mask of Zorro” from being merely mediocre. The first 20 minutes are good. The last 20 minutes or so are also extremely entertaining. But the hour-and-a-half in between is very boring.

With a little editing and better villains, “The Mask of Zorro” could have been a good movie. As it stands, it’s only OK.

3 stars out of five

Mike Milik is a senior in advertising from West Des Moines.