A spoof of one of fiction's most beloved masked men, 'Gay Blade' is what it sounds like: Don Diego (George Hamilton) inherits the mantle of the black garbed champion of the people, only to be injured and now relies on his effeminate twin brother (also played by Hamilton), Bunny Wigglesworth, to thwart evil.
Thankfully free of lame pop-culture references, this straight forward jab at the Zorro mythos still doesn't quite become a legend of its own. Despite a charismatic cast, with Hamilton displaying both comic as well as action chops in both lead roles, and some decent production values that create the appropriate feel of an old Hollywood Zorro picture, the film lacks many hearty belly laughs. Big slapstick setpieces deliver more titters than yucks, and the wordplay isn't especially snappy. Indeed, outside of mocking the theatrics of Zorro, the film has only one other joke in its repertoire: Bunny being gay. This element becomes hit or miss, with a gag about his flamboyant costuming possibly being that side's highlight.
Add to that, the film is slow paced, and this mean whenever there's not a fight or a gag, the film does become a tad dreary as its actual plot is not especially compelling and is clearly more a platform for said fights and gags. It's essentially a boiled down version of the future 'Mask' and the prior 'Mark' films smooshed together.
'Gay Blade' is by no means a terrible parody, with a consistent enough chuckle rate to never be boring, but it never exploits its swashbuckling antics like its distant nephew, 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights', would over a decade later.
Thankfully free of lame pop-culture references, this straight forward jab at the Zorro mythos still doesn't quite become a legend of its own. Despite a charismatic cast, with Hamilton displaying both comic as well as action chops in both lead roles, and some decent production values that create the appropriate feel of an old Hollywood Zorro picture, the film lacks many hearty belly laughs. Big slapstick setpieces deliver more titters than yucks, and the wordplay isn't especially snappy. Indeed, outside of mocking the theatrics of Zorro, the film has only one other joke in its repertoire: Bunny being gay. This element becomes hit or miss, with a gag about his flamboyant costuming possibly being that side's highlight.
Add to that, the film is slow paced, and this mean whenever there's not a fight or a gag, the film does become a tad dreary as its actual plot is not especially compelling and is clearly more a platform for said fights and gags. It's essentially a boiled down version of the future 'Mask' and the prior 'Mark' films smooshed together.
'Gay Blade' is by no means a terrible parody, with a consistent enough chuckle rate to never be boring, but it never exploits its swashbuckling antics like its distant nephew, 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights', would over a decade later.