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 (11)
Reviews (10)
Before the end of the year, Netflix awarded us another series of the year event (and there were a hell of a lot of them this year!) and while I have minor reservations, it's definitely a spectacular fantasy extravaganza and the new successor to Game of Thrones. I'm not a connoisseur of the books and I've never played the game so, I'm unfamiliar with the sources and I agree that the plot is convoluted and at times confusing (especially the flashbacks, which don't feel like flashbacks and detracted from the experience a bit), but the rest of it is without reservation. Henry Cavill as Geralt is excellent, Anya Chalotra as Yennefer is almost perfect, and I enjoyed Marigold, who puts a smile on my face with her singing. The action is very captivating (the duel with the Striga is nicely horrific), although there could have been definitely more monsters. The fights with humans have fine cinematography and the brutality is spot on. The atmosphere is properly fantasy historical, and I like that Mages, Elves, Dryads and similar groups are featured. I really enjoyed the series and it's probably because I have a soft spot for such unknown worlds. I hope that with more seasons the story will become more coherent and make more sense. 8/10.
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Netflix hits the bull's eye again, providing an ointment against pangs of longing for Game of Thrones. I know Sapkowski’s original only from hearsay and I was saving it (for later), but it’s great fun like everyone promised. Swords and magic in all shapes and sizes (if only someone could film a good Conan at last) and with the perfect cast. Cavill plays a hardass mountain of a guy, roaring and muttering (I have been given an assignment to look like him, so beware of the side effects if you watch this with your better half), enjoying himself thoroughly. I did find it a bit hard to decide when the action was taking place (while I managed season 2 of Westworld with no problem), but in the end everything fell into place. The series finale gives you an appetite for more stories like this, so lay them on us.
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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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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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I’m not sure if it is any good to start watching this series without having any previous relationship to The Witcher. Moreover, it is not good either to have read all of the books, played all of the games and hope that this series won’t disappoint you. It is something in between, but as for me as a fan of this universe, it didn’t disappoint. Of course I found a few unclear or illogical points of which you can find a lot more the deeper your relationship to this series is. Still, it is a quite good fantasy piece for which I’m glad because there are currently very few of those, and I’m really glad for every hope that appears in this respect. Netflix didn’t film this series in a bad way, it just did it in its own way. Henry Cavill whom everyone was uncertain about as a main character eventually played his role with flying colors. He really reminds me of the Witcher from the game series. I would say that the story isn’t as good but let’s be honest, with that many characters and unclear story line, the same problem occurred with Game of Thrones as well. We had to wait for the following seasons to see it became a legendary series. And I think that it would be similar with The Witcher. Moreover, in The Witcher you can count on greatly filmed action scenes which are a delight to your eyes. For now I rate it with 5 stars. To hell with it, I was simply thrilled!
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