Creators:
Lauren SchmidtCast:
Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Joey Batey, MyAnna Buring, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren, Adam Levy, Jodhi May, Lars Mikkelsen, Mimi Ndiweni, Wilson Mbomio (more)VOD (1)
Seasons(4) / Episodes(32)
Plots(1)
The witcher Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts. (Netflix)
Videos (12)
Reviews (10)
The Witcher has several major problems, namely the appalling CGI (no matter how much the series relies on it), through the lame setting and costumes, a bunch of amateur actors playing supporting characters, unjustifiably different concepts of several key characters (mostly Yen, but at least she is an interestingly grasped character, despite being different) and, above all, a significant deviation from the key Slavic stylization of The Witcher towards the generic Western concept of fantasy. Which goes even more against the grain, because in terms of storyline the adaptation follows the original source material (short stories) more than you would have expected. But the essence is there. That’s for sure. This is not a new Game of Thrones. It is much closer to The Last Kingdom than to anything else. Yes, it's basically a fantasy series in B-movie style. But to be honest, the original stories are too. So as long as it has no ambition to play big political games (in which Sapkowski also fails), to have a perfect setting, etc., but it's all about Gossiper, Marigold, Ciri and especially the grumbling Geralt in the woods, swamps, pubs and brothels spouting a lot of one-liners, then it *is* The Witcher. Even because Cavill clearly enjoys playing Geralt, from the veiled, cynical one-liner through the intimate conversations with Gossipers / Marigold to the action sequences. These sequences, by the way, have excellent fight-scene choreography (although unrealistic, but even more impressive but because of that). Thus, although a lot does not work here or is clearly on the edge, the series is essentially solid in terms of genre. And that counts. | S1: 3/5 |
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I've never read “The Witcher”, and I've never seen the original Polish film or series, so I was coming to this latest adaptation with a clean slate. The quality of the episodes varied, I was most impressed with the third episode with Striga and least impressed with the sixth, featuring the dragon hunters. As for the cast, there was a lot of variety, some of the characters were really great and I was curious to see how they would turn out, others were incredibly annoying and I didn't care how they ended up. Henry Cavill as Geralt could have pushed the envelope less and not emulate Ben Affleck’s Batman. Yennefer was the most divisive character for me personally, you root for her for a minute, then you want to hit her over the head with a gin bottle. I liked the temporal representation of the story, where in the first few episodes you slowly figure out what the storylines were. As a result, the first season of The Witcher is somewhere between three and four stars for me, but I'll give it a raise in this case. If a second season is made, it would definitely be better to cut down on the talking and increase the action.
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Season 1 – 100% – For some time now, I have been trying to name the feeling that this unexpected hit has evoked in me, and the word hunger best captures it. Hunger for anything related to the Continent and all its realms, hunger for knowledge of other magical or predatory creatures, and hunger for more adventures of the titular hero, whether or not in the form of individual morsels or as part of a grand story that might change the world. I enjoy all levels of the story (although I unwittingly hurried Ciri along on her journey), and I appreciate both the lighter side and the moments when things get intense and I know that this or that adventure simply won't have a happy ending. As I am encountering The Witcher for the first time and have so much study material ahead of me, especially in book form, I can't wait for comparisons of what I already know and all the possible new things. P.S.: For viewers who want to criticize the series because of the skin color of individual actors, I have only one message, and that is "Fuc-" I mean "Fie upon ye!" Season 2 – 90% – Since I spent a nice eight books' worth of time with Geralt during the break between seasons, the experience of continuing some things is different, but fortunately, some things remain the same. Equally good. While I am not a fan of excessively distorting the source material, I have no problem with it here in the slightest. The character of the main protagonists remains fundamentally unchanged, and the adventures that were not present in the books serve as fillers for those parts during which beloved female characters would disappear for half a year. The only disappointment is the misleading of events that do not happen at all despite the episode's title (Dear Friend), but other than that, I have no objections, and I enjoy the open court intrigues that appear subtly earlier and are no longer hidden between the lines. Given the approaching conflicts, such a finding is a great relief. Special recognition must also be given to Freya Allan, who can lighten up and play the potentially thankless and stubborn role in any second, to the point where I would walk through fire for Ciri. Season 3 – 90% – Lately I've been loath to write, talk, or in any way comment on The Witcher. It's become strangely aggressive territory to spew the most stinking manure on the series adaptation using -phobic, racist, and everything else with moronic attempts at wit, or using that well-worn phrase about Netflix not leaving a page out of the books. It's that kind of reasoning that this season serves best. Or rather, it would if the loudest boos had at least read the prologue of the novels. But just so I don't rant about the faithless, I marvel at how deftly the creators have handled such problematic source material. When the saga of Geralt, Ciri, and the others was transformed from short stories into an honest-to-goodness fantasy saga, it brought with it a lot of deliberate, sometimes drawn-out sections full of conversations between kings and councilors and witches, rife with repeated intrigue, revealed intentions, and geographical terms that may or may not have had an impact on the main plot. On screen, however, all the action is coherently setting up a clear plot climax, a conclave of what came before it. The fascinating event steals almost three episodes for itself. And finally, my deepest gratitude goes to the pre-finale action in the desert. The seemingly endless literary wanderings here have both a plot-building and psychologically comprehensible aspect for those involved, confidently stepping into new regions and cast changes that will hopefully not affect the series' long-term ambitions.
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Mixed feelings. At times a dark romp, an atmospheric chivalric epic, a visually captivating show. At times a confusing mess of characters, cardboard sets and boring side-quests in the script. A viewer unfamiliar with the source material will sometimes be terribly confused, or even completely unable to grasp the new characters and locations. Praise for the imaginative concept of separate mini-episodes, which in many ways are not very related and yet in individual details systematically bring each character to the point where their fates intersect at expected moments, even in unpredictable situations. The first bold episode, which, by the way, is the only one that offers absolutely every reason the viewer should give Witcher a chance, is followed by others where those unfamiliar with the source material already feel a certain decline in the way the story is presented and conceived. The action in Blaviken in the opening episode remains by far the best moment of the entire season.
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Well... I also liked the Polish series, which we stayed up late for week after week back in high school so we could discuss what we'd seen in the morning and how (un)different it was from the books. Even then we scoffed at some of the changes, the gimmicks, Marigold, but we didn't mind because the show was just fun, had a great atmosphere, and Geralt was our hero. This is actually pretty much the same case, except that the new Witcher with the excellent Henry "Mhmmmm!" Cavill is even more entertaining. It has a better Marigold, better tricks, and is much better told – the clever interweaving of the three timelines felt original and fresh, and I enjoyed it whenever the series subtly reminded me which timeline I was in. The last time I read Sapkowski's books was fifteen years ago, give or take, but they were so excellent that I still remember quite a bit of them, especially their atmosphere, which in spite of its departure from Slavicism Netflix has managed to revive nicely. I probably liked the Striga and Hedgehog episodes the best, but each had something to it. Plus the beautiful music!
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