Fantasy, Farce, Comedy, Musical, Drama, action adventure. Epigraph:
-"Oh, Zina is good!
I did not expect from myself that one day I would get my hands on watching this, without a doubt, iconic and cult series of the mid-nineties - early noughties, which lasted on small screens for six whole seasons, and on which almost all the children of the nineties grew up. I myself am from this generation, but I missed this series, but I certainly heard about it, and, as a rule, only good things. And then one day, having had enough of modern "shchedevras" of both Russian and world cinema, I decided to arrange for myself a few months of adventure fantasy, and took this series from a well-known source, and for two months I was gone. I was absorbed in this series, and now, when I watched the last episode, and after sighing (and feeling so sad), I decided to write a review for this series, because it awakened in me a whole heap of different emotions (from love to hate). Therefore, consider this review more like a declaration of love for the series, although it will be constructive, you can not worry about it. And here's my brief opinion for you - The most beloved series with a whole bunch of problems. There are both unconditional advantages and obvious disadvantages in the series, and I will try to consider all this in as much detail as possible. Therefore, without further ado, let's get down to it.
So, the advantages:
1. The adventure of Xena and Gabrielle - despite a bunch of flaws (which we'll talk about below), the adventures of the brave warrior Xena herself, who decided to get off the dangerous path of senseless murders and lawlessness and become a defender of ordinary people and justice, and Gabrielle is her faithful companion, who turns from an ever-chattering burden during the series into not just a fighting friend, but practically a sister in spirit. Both heroines will experience so many adventures in six seasons that some will not survive for generations. Their fate will lead them, in addition to Greece, to Egypt, Gaul, Rome, Britain, China, India, Japan and countless villages, temples, even mythical worlds. Our beauties will experience all the emotions of this world, will find true friends and sworn enemies (with whom they will fight more than once). The heroines will die and rise again, move to other bodies, be reborn in distant descendants, both are waiting for the immaculate conception (and this is not a joke). Both Xena and Gabriel realize a lot in their lives, their faith and ideals will be tested more than once by severe tests, during which they will not even walk on the razor's edge, but on the tip of the thinnest and sharpest blade in the world. Strength, courage, intelligence, ingenuity, kindness, instinct, faith - all this will help our heroines to defeat entire armies of opponents, and come out victorious even from the most dangerous situations, because a warrior must master not only the sword, but also the head, otherwise he is no better than a beast. When I watched the final episode, I was sad, because it seemed to me that only yesterday Xena, after much persuasion, took the chatty girl Gabrielle as a companion, and now it's over. They've been through a lot together, and I'm glad I shared their adventures with them, no matter what.
2. Humor - the scriptwriters of this series can joke, and the actors played a significant role in this. From some of the opuses, I was lying under the monitor laughing, and after that I could not come to my senses for a long time. After all, this series accommodates many genres, and the series, as a rule, are divided into them. Here are the humorous series the creators have succeeded to glory! I don't know how many percent of these series have increased the popularity of Xena, but my heart feels - they played an important role. And it was clear - the actors were getting high to act in them. They literally dragged themselves away from the process itself. It's immediately obvious, because money can't buy that! Although some of the characters' opuses make you feel real Spanish shame.
3. Drama - there are enough dramatic episodes and individual moments in the series, but the peak and intensity happened in the third - the strongest and best season, where the creators gave such a drama that I just applauded standing and repeated many times "Bravo Zen!", "Bravo Gabriel!". Here Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor tried their best, and it shows. When I saw it, my jaw was lying under the table, although I have viewed hundreds of paintings, and it's not as easy to surprise me as before, but here a series from the nineties with the help of excellent scenario techniques and simple motivation, performed by talented actors and actresses was able to surprise.
4. "Execute or pardon?" - this eternal dilemma constantly faces Xena and Gabrielle throughout the series. Spare the sworn enemy or destroy him, because he will certainly try to take revenge? Or maybe there is still good in his soul, and you just need to wake him up? And what is the price of forgiveness? Which is better in this world - the way of war or the way of peace? How can love and kindness stop a ruthless army sweeping away everything in its path? It seemed the answer was obvious - all the enemies of Xena and Gabrielle are waiting for death, but not everything is so simple. Let's not forget that Xena in the past was the leader of a ruthless army that wiped cities and villages from the face of the earth, organized genocide of the local population, the word "mercy" was alien to her, Ares - the God of War favored her, she even wanted to become his wife and ruler of the world, and on this path they left a bloody a trace that has not disappeared after many years, and on her way now, after meeting Gabrielle, there will be people whose lives she has crippled, ruined their relatives, and now they only want revenge for all the blood shed. All this morality plays both ways here. To execute or pardon the heroines will be decided on a case-by-case basis, although a high price will be paid for some decisions (even with the blood of friends).
5. History and myths - the scriptwriters stuffed everything they could into the series, mixing real historical figures (Caesar, Pompey, Boudicca, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, Brutus, Octavian, Caligula, and so on), and mythical (Odysseus, Cecropus, Greek gods, Beowulf, Scandinavian gods, Indian deities, beliefs of China and Japan), I am sure that for most viewers, all these names (and a dozen others) will be familiar, even if you have only heard brief excerpts of information about them, and some of these characters turned out to be very similar to their prototypes, and the actors were picked up well (although they did not guess everywhere, but these are small things). Just remember that all this was introduced exclusively for the adventures of Xena and Gabrielle, so if you are interested in the above characters and mythology, then study the information about them yourself.
6. Enthusiasm is a budget series (I would say very budget), so all its success for six seasons was based solely on acting talent and the adventures themselves. All the participants were absorbed in their work, and often worked for the idea, and dragged themselves from the process. But you can't buy such enthusiasm for any money. This reminds me of some low-budget films shot exclusively on such enthusiasm, and despite their well-known problems, they can be watched and the sincerity of their creators sometimes captivates. And this series is also made by enthusiasts, which still has a large fan base and well-deserved popularity.
7. Fights and battles - yes, they are rustic and clearly imitate Bollywood, and most of them are more like a gathering of reenactors who imagine themselves to be Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but tricks - my respect, stuntmen have tried, because they often give out such tricks that even now, in our high-tech age, not everyone will even risk repeat. And if there is a massive battle going on - you can even get high here, and the adrenaline will be generated by itself. Although, let's not forget that there is no such thing as "tactics" and "strategy" here (this is especially noticeable in the example when the Roman army runs at the enemy breaking formation). After all, "Xena" is primarily an action adventure, and for the sake of this very action movie, the audience watched this series. And note - there are practically no graphics in these episodes, people themselves jumped, waved, performed all incredible somersaults. Therefore, to all the directors and stuntmen of this series - feel free to shake hands!
8. Joxor - how can you not single out separately the best friend of Xena and Gabrielle, a klutz and a slob, at the same time a brave and courageous, and reliable companion, who was brilliantly played by Ted Raimi (the brother of Sam Raimi - one of the producers of this series)? Without this klutz, the series would be less interesting, because Joxor is one of the most valuable storehouses of local humor. And, despite all his simplicity and clumsiness (and a certain cowardice), for the sake of Xena and Gabriel, he will go even to Hell, even to Purgatory, and no doubt risk his own life, because for the sake of such friends it can be done, because they will not hesitate to do the same in response. And when this trio participates in humorous series (for example, "Endless Day" or "Love Fever") - then just get high and prepare your tummies, which will burst with laughter.
