The Witcher

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! (10/11/2021)

Oh boy… I loved the Polish series too, which back then in high school kept us up late week after week to discuss what we'd seen and how different it was from the books. Even then, we scoffed at some of the changes, the effects, Merigold, but we didn't mind because the show was just fun, it 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 entertained me much more. It has a better Merigold, better effects, 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 or so, but they were so excellent that I still remember a lot from them, and I especially remember their atmosphere, which Netflix, despite its departure from Slavicism, has managed to revive nicely. I probably liked the Striga and Hedgehog episodes the most, but each had something to it. And the music is beautiful! (27/12/2021)

My favourite example of a source material vs movie adaptation is Jurassic Park. Crichton's book is brilliant; Spielberg's film is brilliant. What do they have in common? Cloned dinosaurs, characters, an island… And that’s about it. If I approached this series like the almost zealous Sapkowski fans here, I would have to send Spielberg to burning hell. But, why would I do that? If the film was stupid, perhaps. But what if it is great? It’s the same with The Witcher, I love the books, the game (the third one) is one of the best I’ve ever played. The original Polish series was a massive event back then, and the first season of this new version won me over more than I’d expected. The second season carries on with that. It may have abandoned that slyly entertaining narrative in several timelines, but that wouldn't have made sense here anyway. What's especially great is how the creators keep capitalising on the first series, revisiting various things that happened in it and went away, and forging a pretty interesting story that – and this is important – still has that Sapkowski in it. It's easy to get upset about the departure from Slavicism, to spit on all the different races that show up, to shake your head at the fact that something is different than it was in the book and to throw a tantrum, but when you get so into it all that you forget to have fun, you pout, you don't give the show a chance, and you feel like the great critics who understand it all; that’s just sad. I don’t know what I would give to be able to watch the third season right now. (28/12/2021)