Witcher (Netflix)

[Umbran]

I'll wait to see what people have to say about the Witcher; too little time to waste on bad TV.

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus: "The world of The Witcher still only feels half-formed as it gallops onto screens, but Henry Cavill brings brawny charisma to a series teeming with subversive fantasy elements and dark humor. "

 

[Blackrat]

I’m three episodes in and I like it. I think, without any preknowledge of the Witcher world, it might be a bit complex for average viewer, but it shouldn’t be too hard to figure things out. I’ve not read the books, but am a fan of the games. As far as I know, the series follows plot from the books.

Th fight scenes are visually impressive and brutal, and special effects are stunning. The plot is so far coherent and interesting enough to make me binge three episodes in one sitting. The visuals are believable for a fantasy series, and I really like Cavill as Geralt. The other actors have also pulled very good performances so far.

 

[Tonguez]

up to episode 5 and I'm liking it. especially the three converging storylines and the heavy 'destiny' theme I havent read the books nor played the game but can generally work things out. I did get a bit confused about timeframes in the 4th episode but soon worked out that it was a non-linear flashback and as a folklore fan I especially liked the strong fairytale theme in the story too. . It also gave a satisfying "Oh I get it" explanation for the story arc.

It has more overt magic than I expected and I'm still working out what the races are (eg are the short miners dwarfs or just short people, are the people in the forest elfs?)

oh and is the bard and his songs in the books? just his songs and dialogue sound a bit modern to me, he's nice for comic relief though

 

[Blackrat]

Ay, the short miners are dwarves, and the elves have pointy ears. The bard is also in the books and in the games, and is sort of a major character. Of his songs I don’t know, but he is sort of a comic relief in the games too.

 

[Mercurius]

Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus: "The world of The Witcher still only feels half-formed as it gallops onto screens, but Henry Cavill brings brawny charisma to a series teeming with subversive fantasy elements and dark humor. "

Just what we need: more subversive elements and dark humor. At this point, "grimdark" has become more cliche than vanilla fantasy.

 

[Tonguez]

Just what we need: more subversive elements and dark humor. At this point, "grimdark" has become more cliche than vanilla fantasy.

I didnt find it particularly subversive or all that dark, grim maybe, but 'realistically' so. less so than GoT for instance

 

[Mercurius]

I didnt find it particularly subversive or all that dark, grim maybe, but 'realistically' so. less so than GoT for instance

OK, good to know. I don't totally hate grimdark stuff, I just dislike the fact that it has become a kind of new baseline, and takes up an enormous amount of real estate in the fantasy ouevre.

 

[CapnZapp]

Oops.

 

[Hussar]

Just watched the first episode. I have no knowledge of the books or the video game. Never saw either. ((I always thought Geralt of Rivea was from Castlevania)). I have to say that I don't think I'm missing anything. Seems fairly straight forward so far. You've got Geralt, you've got angry woman who used to be a princess and really wants to kill the wizard and angry princess that just ran away. Nothing too complicated so far.

 

[Mallus]

I’m two episodes in. Short review: if I think of The Witcher as the next Game of Thrones, it’s pretty bad, but if I think of it as the next grimdark Xena/Hercules, it’s quite good.

And Cavill’s doing a great job as Geralt.