Hidey ho boys and girls!!
Welcome to day 2 of Action Pack Week and we are kicking off with a
former enemy turned ally of Hercules. Destroyer of nations, ravager of
townships our villainess turned over a new leaf thanks to Hercules’…influences.
This warrior princess strives to do good in the world from city to city and
redeem her wicked ways. So don that
armour, sharpen your blade and polish that round killy thing. This is Xena: Warrior Princess.
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| Never anger a warrior woman and her round killy thing. |
Spoilers are most
surprising…
The Warrior Princess known as Xena (Lucy Lawless of Tarzan,
Spiderman, Vampire Bats, Battlestar Galactica, Angel of Death and Spartacus:
Gods of the Arena) has turned from her killing ways and utter barbarism. She vows to do right by those she has wronged
for so long. As her story progresses a
young bard that craves adventure, excitement and really wild things. Her name is Gabrielle (Renee O’ Connor of Hercules: The
Legendary Journeys- Hercules and the Lost Kingdom, Darkman II: The Return of
Durant, Alien Apocalypse, Boogeyman 2, Diamonds and Guns and Ark) and
together they travel and thwart warlords, tyrants and the occasional monster
here and there. Another thorn in
Xena’s side is the continuous pursuit of a certain god of war Ares (Kevin
Smith of Desperate Remedies, Young Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, Riverworld
and Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao) and his plans for her
consists mostly of back to her blood shedding ways and devotion back to
him. Through this one warrior he has
absorbed more terror and fear via battlefields than any other of his
protégés. Also it is blatantly obvious
he has the hots for her.
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| Ladies, please. Plenty of Autolycus to go around. |
Renaissance Pictures created the Hercules spin off Xena in
1995 and both series ran back to back as a compliment to one another. Naturally
like most spin offs the show’s originator has to appear in at least one maybe
two episodes and so a two part cliffhanger was created dragging both Kevin
Sorbo and Michael Hurst on down to Xenatown.
While this was more or less Rob Tapert’s baby and boy did he run with
it; the creator of the Xena character as well as the series is writer John
Schulian (Miami Vice, Jag, Midnight Caller and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
using the cliché archetype of dark warrior rethinking the path of life and
wither it should be bathed in blood or somber with good deeds.
This malefactor of destruction becomes a positive role model
for generations alike and had so much cult followings of various ages. A few
points I would like to make about the show.
The show seems to give Xena almost the same demi-god status as Hercules
when in fact she all 100% mortal. With skill,
cunning, strategy and a spine forged of steel she commands men and women alike
into battle or faces it head on her own.
Protecting those she cares for seems to agree with her new calling as a
hero.
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| Sea god feeling a bit blue. |
The production offers the same
standing as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in that they use the Raimi camera
techniques such as: Shaky cam(POV of creature, entity or roaming monster)
projectile cam (an intense focus of a blade or arrow travelling faster than the
human eye could really calculate), fist cam (A mock up of the hero’s fist
pummeling a villain or lickspittle of said villain) and dolly track. Yes it can be campy and silly what with the reoccurring
characters of Joxer the Mighty (Ted Raimi of Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence,
Darkman, Floundering, Seaquest 2032 and Spiderman) and Autolycus, King
of Thieves (Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.,
Spiderman) it can get a little zany but all in all it is girls kicking
butt, taking names and winning the world’s hearts again and again.
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