Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) recruits Alejandro Murieta (Antonio Banderas) to become his replacement as Zorro the legendary hero. Together they infiltrate the circle of Don Raphael - the fiercest of the Spanish tyrants. Armed with his mask sword whip and jet-black stallion Tornado the new Zorro embarks on a mission to stop Don Raphael's plot to buy California set right twenty years of wrongs bring justice to the people ensnared by Spanish greed and win the heart of Elena (Catherine Zeta-Jones) - Don Diego's daughter.