Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama
Length: Season 1, 8 Episodes, Run-time range of 47-67
min. per episode
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: Netflix, Pioneer Stilking Films, Platige
Image, Sean Daniel Company
Creator/Showrunner: Lauren Schmidt
Directors: Alik Sakharov, Charlotte Brändström, Alex
Garcia Lopez, Marc Jobst, Edward Bazalgette, Sarah O'Gorman, Geeta Patel,
Stephen Surjik
Writers: Andrzej Sapkowski, Lauren Schmidt, Haily
Hall, Declan De Barra, Beau DeMayo, Jenny Klein, Sneha Koorse, Mike Ostrowski
Actors: Henry Cavill, Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra,
Mimi Ndiweni, Mecia Simson, Eamon Farren, MyAnna Buring, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte,
Adam Levy, Joey Batey, Lars Mikkelsen, Royce Pierreson, Anna Shaffer, Jodhi
May, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Therica Wilson-Read, Judit Fekete, Máté Haumann,
Daniel Burke, Mahesh Jadu, Emma Appleton, Josette Simon, Maciej Musial, Shaun
Dooley, Anna-Louise Plowman, Tobi Bamtefa, Terence Maynard, Nóra Trokán, Martin
Berencsy, John Wolfe, Aisha Fabienne Ross
IMDB Blurb: Geralt of Rivia,
a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people
often prove more wicked than beasts.
Cat's Point of View:
Cat's Point of View:
The catchy tune from The
Witcher has exploded all over YouTube and the memeverse, and I just
couldn’t resist the temptation. (Translate that as it’s stuck in my head –
help!) Come, Valley of Plenty, and let’s take a look at this new Netflix
Original series.
I had simultaneously two reactions when I first saw that
this series was in production. I completely geeked out because I had heard so
many great things about the games from a friend. He had talked it up to me so well
that the most recent game, The Witcher 3:
Wild Hunt (2015) was the birthday present I gave to myself last year.
(Sadly, I just haven’t had the time to play it yet. That changes imminently!)
At the same time, I tilted my head to the side a little as I
regarded Henry Cavill (Stardust,
Immortals, Night Hunter) and that long white hair. It took me only a moment
to get past a small mental block that was stuck from seeing him in roles such
as the Superman character. The moment
didn’t last long, however, because I realized what a physical presence and
subtle humor that Cavill was going to bring to the role, and I got even more
excited in anticipation of the series.
The world has been craving something to fill the fantasy
epic void that Game of Thrones
(2011-2019) left in its confounding and controversial wake. I wasn’t sure if it
would grab me, much less a wider audience as thoroughly as Thrones did. Nevertheless, I set out right away to learn as much as
I could about this new incarnation of the Witcher
franchise.
What I hadn’t realized from at-length discussions with my
friend was that The Witcher games are
based on books. (More titles to add to that ever-growing to-read list of mine.)
This is important to note because the series is generally based on these
written works by Andrzej Sapkowski, rather than the video games. The production
team did make great strides to ensure that some iconic visuals were
incorporated into the episodes, but story content from the game vs. the plot of
the series may significantly vary – depending on how off-book the games have
taken the tales and their respective characters.
That being said, after watching the entirety of this series
I couldn’t honestly care less if the games were or weren’t entirely represented
here. The cinematography is splendid, the visuals are stunning, the creatures well-rendered,
and the fight scenes are intricate and impressive. There’s something here for
everyone – adventure, romance, comedy, war, gore, drama… I could go on.
Getting back to those fight scenes. I wasn’t surprised to
learn that Cavill performed all of his own stunts. If you think about it, if he
didn’t we’d be looking at something tantamount to the video games from the
editing required so I’m thankful that it worked out this way. Honestly,
watching Cavill in a swordfight is a thing of beauty.
No, I’m not talking about his jacked physique for this role.
I’m talking about his fighting style and how he was able to flow through the
movement so well. He was praised by the production’s fight-master, a veteran of
stunts and stunt-design Vladimir Furdik (Skyfall,
Exodus: Gods and Kings, Game of Thrones), for how well he picked up the
skills and fight choreography and the speed at which he did so. It does very
much appear that he’s dancing through the movements.
It’s also evidence of the dedication Cavill has given to
this role. Aside from his ability to make pages of dialogue obsolete simply by
nuances in his performance, it was a role that he actively sought out – even before
there was a script – because he was a fan. They auditioned 207 other actors, though,
before he was officially cast.
Though, of course, Cavill may be playing the title character
here, but is by far not the only noteworthy cast member helming memorable characters.
Though relatively new faces, Freya Allan (Captain
Fierce, Into the Badlands, The War of the Worlds) and Anya Chalotra (Wanderlust, The ABC Murders, Sherwood)
playing Cirilla and Yennefer respectively, are killing it with their characters
as well. While Ciri feels a bit lost in this landscape, it is likely meant to
be due to her individual quest and the circumstances. Yennefer’s journey
provides a well-nuanced arc through the series.
There does also seem to be another common thread between
this series and the games – likely born of the source material, of course – the
shenaniganry of Jaskier (or Dandelion) played by Joey Batey (The White Queen, Film Stars Don't Die in
Liverpool, Knightfall). Batey’s character brings some much-needed levity to
balance out the darkness of this fantasy world. I’d have to say that he’s
probably my favorite character in the series aside from its titular figure.
The only downside that I can think of with the series is
some of the framings of the story. It’s a little confusing at first because
timelines flip back and forth from past to present-day – through all of the
core triad’s stories. Once you realize that’s happening, though, and get some
reference on events, then it’s easier to go with the flow.
Showrunner Lauren
Schmidt (Private Practice, The Defenders,
The Umbrella Academy) has indicated that with this introduction season out
of the way, the foundation has been laid to get the story moving more
cohesively into the future That’s right! There WILL be a season 2 of The
Witcher – we’re just not sure when it will actually be released yet. Target
release has been set for sometime in 2021. While production had started already
in February 2020, they had to halt and shut down for the time being due to the
global pandemic crisis. Still, there is hope. At this point, it’s a matter of
when they can resume – not if.
In the meantime, we have this first 8 episode run to watch while we’re staying at home and practicing the all-important social distancing right now. It’s unthinkable how the world has changed in just the course of a month or so. One thing can be counted on, though – through books, movies, ‘television’ series, games, and other means of constructive escape we can take the edge off for a little bit and be transported elsewhere to focus on fictional characters’ problems instead of our own. For this reason, The Witcher is a great way to spend roughly 8 hours in a world of fantasy and monsters.
P.S. - For a fun extra, Netflix released a short video of Henry Cavill reading from a book the series is based on.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic
Score – 67%
Rotten Tomatoes
Audience Score – 92%
Metascore – 53/100
Metacritic User Score – 7.5/10
IMDB Score – 8.3/10
CinemaScore – none
Trust the Dice: Cat’s
Rating – 4.5/5
Series Trailer:
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