The Witcher

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. (26/12/2019)

One of the most anticipated series of the year, The Witcher, judging by the reactions, probably didn't quite live up to its potential. Fans of the games and books are quite disappointed, but for me, as a non-fan of the source material, just purely from the position of a fantasy-loving viewer, I enjoyed it more than enough. Henry Cavill once again proved to be a great casting choice and Freya Allan as Ciri is also great. I'm a bit disappointed with Yennefer, she has no powers the whole series and thus her line is quite uninteresting. Marigold traditionally sings great and the rest of the characters didn't impress me that much. The storyline, like the first season, is quite challenging to navigate, there are lots of towns, locations, names and characters, but I had a similar problem with Game of Thrones, it wasn't until somewhere around seasons 3-4 that I started to get a good feel for the characters and towns, so I don't take that as a complaint. What does kind of hurt is that they skimp on the action – one monster per episode is not enough, but when they do show up it's sleigh down. All the monsters are among the top of all fantasy and it is R-rated (I don't remember other R-rated fantasy stuff) so the juicy gore at times suits the series damn well, but I wanted more of it. Fortunately, the series is entertaining, with expensive production design and engaging enough even in the more intimate scenes that I didn't slip into boredom once and that's what counts. I'm satisfied.Story 4/5, Action 4/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10. (04/01/2022)