Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
its definitely more Xena than GoT, its got a very "new adventure per week" approach, with the three leads providing the connecting arc
Last edited:
Witcher (Netflix)
doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
I don’t know how to value a review that relies entirely on comparisons in the vein of “as a new X, it’s bad”.
Like...genuinely what am I even supposed to take from that? That tells me literally nothing.
Like...genuinely what am I even supposed to take from that? That tells me literally nothing.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Hero
Well, to describe it:
It's a world were fairy tales cannot be written off as just "tales" - they might be (embellished) retellings of historical events. Kinda like a Hollywood take on some historical event - because Elves, Dwarves, magic, monsters, wizards and sorcerors, they all exist. but of course, historical event rarely fit neither in a 90 minute movie nor a 5 minute Bard's ballad and wouldn't always be satisfying entertainment if told accurately.
The main characters is a "Witcher", a human altered with magic to be able to combat monsters that could easily beat a normal warrior, a sorceress from humble beginnings that doesn't have come to terms with what she sacrificed to gain her power and beauty, and a royal child with some inborn magic ability that she hasn't even fully figured.
The first season shows some important scenes of their life, each character's story told at a different speed through their life, all stories moving towards the "present", and occassionally showing where their paths crossed.
It is relatively episodic compared to many streaming shows, though there are some shared threads that tie things together and become clearer the closer you get toward the end of the season.
It's a world were fairy tales cannot be written off as just "tales" - they might be (embellished) retellings of historical events. Kinda like a Hollywood take on some historical event - because Elves, Dwarves, magic, monsters, wizards and sorcerors, they all exist. but of course, historical event rarely fit neither in a 90 minute movie nor a 5 minute Bard's ballad and wouldn't always be satisfying entertainment if told accurately.
The main characters is a "Witcher", a human altered with magic to be able to combat monsters that could easily beat a normal warrior, a sorceress from humble beginnings that doesn't have come to terms with what she sacrificed to gain her power and beauty, and a royal child with some inborn magic ability that she hasn't even fully figured.
The first season shows some important scenes of their life, each character's story told at a different speed through their life, all stories moving towards the "present", and occassionally showing where their paths crossed.
It is relatively episodic compared to many streaming shows, though there are some shared threads that tie things together and become clearer the closer you get toward the end of the season.
Xenonnonex
Hero
It certainly gets better in the subsequent episodes. I stuck with it and I am quite enjoying it so far. YMMV of course.
Hussar
Legend
Watched to the end.
Liked it and want to see next season. I didn't twig on the whole different time streams thing until about half way through watching. Cool technique. Stories were well done, acting is good enough, and it's got a pretty solid over arching plot.
Yeah, I'll watch the next season.
Liked it and want to see next season. I didn't twig on the whole different time streams thing until about half way through watching. Cool technique. Stories were well done, acting is good enough, and it's got a pretty solid over arching plot.
Yeah, I'll watch the next season.
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
I binged all ten episodes and I loved it. It was my first exposure, I hadn't read any of the books nor played any of the games.
Imaculata
Hero
I binged all episodes as well and greatly enjoyed it. Henry Cavill makes a fantastic Geralt and you can tell he loves playing the part. It has a bit of a D&D feeling to it (in a good way) and not so much Game of Thrones.
It didn't have me hooked until episode 2 with the introduction of Yennefer. The quality of the show goes a bit up and down in the effects department. Most of the monsters look great, but some of the big battles really show the limitations of the budget in my opinion. Also, whenever we see the dryads it looks like they are just in a normal forest that is cursed with a persistent Photoshop lensflare. I don't like their design either. I'm also not entirely happy with the casting of Triss.
However, the rest of the cast is really good, even if they may not resemble the look of their book counter parts. The plots of the episodes string neatly together and there are some nice surprises along the way (and some time jumps). I also enjoy the lore and mythology.
I do think they mention a lot of things that aren't really explained in the show, such as the Conjunction of the Spheres. But perhaps later seasons will delve into that. I haven't read any of the books or played the games and yet I could follow most of it just fine. The only thing that can get a little confusing is all the various countries that are mentioned. Without a map, as a casual viewer you just have no idea where everything is in relation to each other.
It didn't have me hooked until episode 2 with the introduction of Yennefer. The quality of the show goes a bit up and down in the effects department. Most of the monsters look great, but some of the big battles really show the limitations of the budget in my opinion. Also, whenever we see the dryads it looks like they are just in a normal forest that is cursed with a persistent Photoshop lensflare. I don't like their design either. I'm also not entirely happy with the casting of Triss.
However, the rest of the cast is really good, even if they may not resemble the look of their book counter parts. The plots of the episodes string neatly together and there are some nice surprises along the way (and some time jumps). I also enjoy the lore and mythology.
I do think they mention a lot of things that aren't really explained in the show, such as the Conjunction of the Spheres. But perhaps later seasons will delve into that. I haven't read any of the books or played the games and yet I could follow most of it just fine. The only thing that can get a little confusing is all the various countries that are mentioned. Without a map, as a casual viewer you just have no idea where everything is in relation to each other.
Last edited:
JeffB
Legend
Never heard of the game or the books- But saw the hoopla about it recently-I forced myself through the 1st episode. It's certainly no Stranger Things or Lost in Space.
I really don't understand why so much fantasy is done so poorly on-screen. The acting was -eh. The setting seemed anachronistic. The swordfights were way too Hollywood, and at any minute I was expecting for the main character guy to
I really don't understand why so much fantasy is done so poorly on-screen. The acting was -eh. The setting seemed anachronistic. The swordfights were way too Hollywood, and at any minute I was expecting for the main character guy to
