Fantasy, musical, comedy, action adventure. It had to happen for sure, because the audience probably asked for it, namely to make another joint adventure of Hercules and Xena from both series, and the creators took such a step, releasing this full-length cartoon between seasons, which I could not miss, since I watched the series "Xena - the Queen of Warriors" only recently, and I also fell in love with him (despite a whole bunch of problems). I didn't watch The Amazing Wanderings of Hercules, but I still got a little bit of pleasure from watching the cartoon, though not much. And here's my brief opinion for you - A boring adventure of your favorite characters. In this cartoon there were both pros and cons, which must be said. And this should be the end of this introduction, and get to the point.
So, the pros:
1. Classical animation - how tired I am of three-dimensional cartoons (even to the point of nausea) that when I see a classic two-dimensional animation, my heart rejoices, because I do not get tired of repeating "Even the cheapest two-dimensional animation will look stylish than the most expensive three-dimensional, because the latter requires a lot of money just in fact." The main characters are drawn and animated just fine (especially Xena and Hercules), and the Titans are good (especially their underlined forms, if you know what I mean). And the combat episodes are definitely pleasing to the eye. I don't know for the experience of animators, but in general I even want to praise them a little. Although of all the characters, Xena is more memorable (maybe the series is to blame for this, who knows).
2. Humor - the local humor matches the serial, quite pleasant, witty, with a couple of memorable moments. Although there are not enough stars from the sky. You can laugh.
So, the cons:
1. Backdrops - and here the animators can be scolded, because no one really bothered about this moment, or maybe it was a matter of budget scarcity (and so it most likely was). The backdrops here are just canvases of different colors (except for the house of Hercules' mother). Olympus is not a stronghold that should inspire awe and fear to anyone who wants to look at it. Trees, bushes, rocks - everything is just marked.
2. The script - it resembles just another series of two desired series with a simple plot, a good middle, a good final battle and a logical conclusion with a hint of continuation (but in the form of the desired series). The characters are familiar, although the animation of some Olympians makes the audience twist their fingers at the temple. Especially unlike his serial prototype Ares, I'm not talking about Zeus or Hera. Only Xena, Gabriel, Hercules, and Iolaus look like themselves. Well, Artemis and Aphrodite also resemble their images. Plus, many moments in conversations will be appreciated only by fans of both series, and for the rest they will be incomprehensible.
3. Russian voice-over translation - and both. And in general, the translation is not bad, only the names and accents are not placed at all where it is required. For example, Gabriel in the first translation of Xena calls for some reason "Gabriella". So also the translation was made clearly on enthusiasm. Therefore, I highly recommend watching this cartoon in English, given that the serial actors voiced their characters here.
4. Boredom - despite the rather small timing (one hour and sixteen minutes), the cartoon is boring to watch. The viewer wakes up only at the moments of fights with Xena or Hercules, and humorous moments. Yes, there were also boring episodes in the series "Xena - the Warrior Queen", but to make a full-length cartoon boring? Seriously? What did the creators expect? Were you hoping to leave on the success of both series and that popularity? And here we missed, we made a mistake. Critics and viewers have blasted this cartoon.
5. Boring songs - I singled them out separately, because this cartoon is also a musical, and in it the characters sing and sing boring. It seems that the composer wrote lullaby compositions, and not music for a fantasy comedy adventure thriller. Joseph Loduka will be unlucky for you.
It can be rightfully stated that the animation experiment of the creators of the cult series "The Amazing Wanderings of Hercules" and "Xena - the Warrior Queen" failed miserably. We did it for the fans, and we got it from them, and the rest of the audience were, to put it mildly, dissatisfied.
My rating is 5 out of 10. About the recommendation - see for yourself!
