I guess it's been a while since we've talked about Slayers...or really anything for that matter. I'd make an excuse but eh I got nothing. Lets change that and talk about Slayers Return 2 or as the kids call it,Slayers Gorgeous. It was released in 1998 almost a year to the day after the forgettable Slayers Great and the first one that wasn't released alongside an anime season but was the last part of the prequel series to the main series. I'm going to get the bad out of the way first so I can actually say nice things about this movie.
The movie is a really a point for point
retread of Return,right down to the the plot being hijacked by a
monster that the villain can't control. It attempts the same twist
that Return had,with it's darker opening The editing and color palate
being very similar with their attempts to mislead you into thinking
this might be a bit serious. Hell it throws in a callback to the
bizarre golem scene from Return as well. However you know what the
film is still funny.
Upon my last re watch I really did
start noticing the above mentioned gripes but it does not matter
because again it is still hilarious and actually does add a few new
things in to the mix. As I have said numerous times Slayers plots
tend to be average and more a medium for the comedy. Thus they tend
to fall into a sort of template that works for them. See the anime
having clearly defined arcs where Lina and co have build up to one
villain. There is nothing wrong with that,it's a solid foundation
that the comedy builds the house on. When the story tries to get more
serious the harder we have to look at the foundation and realized
that it is made of sand, I.e Hourglass of Falces. So Returns had a
stable plot and structure that worked. Gorgeous realizes this and use
that structure to tell a fun story with a breezy pace.
The only real problem I do have with it
borrowing Return's structure is that final part of the movie with the
aforementioned hijacking. The villain seems to be there because I
guess the director had some scenes to foreshadow him and it would
look awful silly if they didn't do anything with them. There are no
really good jokes in the big battle and the guy is just not that
unlikable that I want to see him defeated. You really could have cut
these scenes and lost nothing outside of showing how well Naga and
Lina can work together. Even then that could have been demonstrated
better without those scenes
Through out the series Naga and Lina
have had a volatile yet trusting relationship and while Return played
with it a little it was tame compared to here. Their own
relationships is almost central to the plot as they go from fire
forged comrades to bitter enemies at the drop of a coin. They are
both greedy as all get out and this fact does lead to them choosing
sides for no other reason than to fatten their own purse. However as
much as they are constantly trying to one up the other they can pull
their act together to fell a mutual enemy. If only to have go right
back to quibbling a moment later.
Admittedly they did try something like
this in Great as well but there their own conflicts took a back seat
to the abysmal main conflict and their big showdown was one of the
most boring thing ever animated. Here the main conflict is more of a
free standing joke on dragons while Lina and Naga are just trying to
one up each other and get paid to do so. It's honestly pretty funny
that Naga joins the bratty princess just to teach her how to laugh
more arrogantly.
The comedy does borrow slightly from
Return with it's misleading seriousness but goes on to rely on
smaller twists with pratfalls and some great continuity jokes. It has
great comedic timing and I was laughing quite often. It does lack the
big comedic set-pieces the Return had but makes up for it with it's
mythology gags and pratfalls that you never really notice the lack of
the former
Overall this is not a bad movie by any
means it is very entertaining and well paced. This is probably the
best portrayal of the Naga/Lina relationship and I'd place it up
there with Return. Yes,maybe I will marry Return,what's it to you.
Definitely worth checking out if you need a laugh.
Till next time: Stay Positive.
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