Netflix's The Witcher review thread

[Aprikurt]

I binged it all today. It was pretty damn great, even with it's flaws. I can't wait for season 2.

I'm just now reading reviews after finishing the show, and it's ridiculous how many critics are having to compare this show to Game of Thrones. As if GoT is the only other fantasy to exist in all of media, for fuck's sake.

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I mean like it or not it's the biggest transition of fantasy to the mainstream since LotR. The comparisons are somewhat inevitable.

Looking forward to this. The great part about middling reviews with a tv series as opposed to a certain other pop culture event this week is that Witcher can always improve.

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

2 episodes in and I really like it so far. Cannot wait to watch more later.

 

[TooFriendly]

I've never read the books or played the games. The Tv series is, well, it's not great. It's not terrible either though.

I'm up to episode 4 and something just seems really off about it. bad ADR, sets that seem large and mostly empty, polystyrene castle walls. I find the forced gruff voice of Geralt hilarious. This royal family seems ludicrous in every way with really hammy acting that falls flat. the first appearance of elves was baffling and laugh inducing. There was a scene where there are a bunch of miners, and I think some of them were supposed to be fantasy dwarves, but they were just guys with dwarfism and silly fake beards. Like how dwarves were portrayed before the LotR movies 20 years ago.

It's not all bad though, I like pretty much all of the stuff with the sorcery training involving Yennefer. Some of the fight scenes have been really well choreographed, and also some of the monster effects, especially the cursed girl in the castle looked amazing.

I heard it gets better and I think I will stick with it. Serious high fantasy is not an easy thing to do, I'm glad they are going for it, it's pretty close to being good but a few things just keep bringing me out of it.

 

[takriel]

Wonder what they spend the money on, the series looks closer to Princess Fantaghiro than GoT.

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Now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time.

 

[xyla]

Only seen two episodes so far. It's feels a little weird. Like the showrunners couldn't take the time to make the world feel lived in. Many actions and dialogues feel tacked on to convei a feeling in a pragmatic way that necessarily doesn't make sense for the world.

It's a little hard to explain. At the core there's a lot to like surrounded by little things that don't work - I'm not sure if the show is for me atm but I'll watch on for a few more episodes to get a better picture.

So far the second episode was way better than the first - but still not without some bigger problems in writing and execution.

 

[a916]

When you spend a fortune on this, but still won't greenlight another season of Mindhunter.

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Hollywood Reporter had an interview with Jonathan Groff and he said it's on hold until Fincher is done with his movie. I'm not sure what you want Netflix to do here if Fincher is busy

 

[residentgrigo]

Also, to those who've seen the show, is the scrotum armor as terrible as it looked in the leaked pics?

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I had to. Some of the show looks weird, most looks great. The production values are our friends here even if not everything works.

 

[Trice]

From reviews, this sounds like there's a lot of objectification of female characters compared to Witcher 2 and 3. Is that accurate? Is there not much male objectification? If so, that's quite sexist, no?

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There's some titties in some scenes, not a big deal imo

*only seen up to 4th ep

 

[Soj]

Wonder what they spend the money on, the series looks closer to Princess Fantaghiro than GoT.

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The problem is the cinematography IMO. They went for a more traditional look with a lot of locked off shots, which when it doesn't work, people equate with being cheap. Show looks like a BBC period drama a lot of the time because that's how they're shooting it.

 

[TooFriendly]

The problem is the cinematography IMO. They went for a more traditional look with a lot of locked off shots, which when it doesn't work, people equate with being cheap. Show looks like a BBC period drama a lot of the time because that's how they're shooting it.

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It kind of looks like that tv show 'Merlin'

 

[Anarion07]

Okay so I'm not totally off base here right? There was a look there for sure.

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If a simple look and a smile mean sexual intent for you personally, that's on you, not Henry.

 

[Linus815]

Okay so I'm not totally off base here right? There was a look there for sure.

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this is some tabloid gossip tier crap. They both smiled at eachother, big fuckin deal.

 

[Artdayne]

It kind of looks like that tv show 'Merlin'

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LOL, not even close. The Witcher looks a lot better than Merlin. I have some issues with CGI in one or two episodes but otherwise it's fine, not amazing but decent.

 

[Kiekura]

If you are fan of series and know Witcher lore this is actually pretty good.

They don't really explain stuff much. They trust you know stuff already and it seems they rush with story.

 

[elenarie]

From reviews, this sounds like there's a lot of objectification of female characters compared to Witcher 2 and 3. Is that accurate? Is there not much male objectification? If so, that's quite sexist, no?

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Sexist? In what sense? That's how humanity in the world of Witcher is. Women are thrown around like expendable resources that kings and lords use in whatever way they want. It is different among elves and dwarves, where there is more equality between men and women, but for humans, men are the ones in power.

 

[TooFriendly]

LOL, not even close. The Witcher looks a lot better than Merlin. I have some issues with CGI in one or two episodes but otherwise it's fine, not amazing but decent.

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i dont mean it literally looks just the same, but there are some similarities. Mostly in the sparsity of the sets and often the lighting.

 

[Kiekura]

Sexist? In what sense? That's how humanity in the world of Witcher is. Women are thrown around like expendable resources that kings and lords use in whatever way they want. It is different among elves and dwarves, where there is more equality between men and women, but for humans, men are the ones in power.

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Yeah this so much.

 

[Bruceleeroy]

Mindhunter isn't going anywhere. Some people just like fearmongering and acting as if Netflix will cancel its critically acclaimed shows.

Fincher is a busy guy and I think he's working on a film at the moment so it may be a longer delay for the next season IIRC.

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Thank goodness. Spreading fear and terror in me for no reason

 

[ABIC]

Finished it. Enjoyed it and would watch season 2, primarily out of curiosity for the plot.

Thoughts

- the core kernel of the story itself is really interesting, and it is only shown in episode 5

- the execution I.e. screenplay, dialogue, is a bit weak. The showrunner chose this convoluted timeline and the show isn't great at communicating the shifts so it's confusing

- weak visual direction, weak natural sets, some poor Casshern-like VFX that doesn't mesh with the rest of the world.. lots of shows like Westworld and GOT look far more gorgeous. I think they basically got the basic look of it wrong. Not quite BBC Merlin but it's an apt comparison

- geralt really isn't much of a fun character to follow.. He's not even fun in the games but you don't know because the game is amazing. The overall Arc of the story is a better attraction but the show doesn't do justice to it's treatment of it

- at the end of the day, I think Witcher the novel itself isn't actually terribly well written.. we've gotten swayed by the amazing games (actually arguably only W3 was amazing) but the source itself isn't top tier fantasy.. can feel it coming apart at its seams


But still very curious about where to go in S2, and they can do a lot more work in adding resources to strengthening the show. Not sure this showrunner has what it takes, but visuals and script can do with a lift.

Still thumbs up for season 1. Not anywhere like a great season of television like True Detectives s1 or Westworld s1.. but it's a good watch. Don't need to know much about the game too.

 

[residentgrigo]

The books are outright misogynistic. Era will burn this one alive if they continue sticking so closely to them later on. The bad part of GoT are feminist propaganda compared to them (the GRRM books ain´t too bad with women but there are steep drops here and there). The first game ain´t great either but simply sexist and they grew from there to much better if not perfect female representation.

S01 is already to a bad start with how it treats women but I am not bringing my pitchforks yet. Yet. That said, this is Trigger Warning - The Show.

 

[LilScooby77]

Only watched 3 episodes but really enjoying it.

 

[Arkanius]

Holy shit I'm fucking loving this.
It's very good. I was very afraid after the review scores. I can't understand.

 

[Flipyap]

Sexist? In what sense? That's how humanity in the world of Witcher is. Women are thrown around like expendable resources that kings and lords use in whatever way they want. It is different among elves and dwarves, where there is more equality between men and women, but for humans, men are the ones in power.

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The camera that was used to film this show isn't part of The Witcher lore. No king has forced them to only film naked Geralt from the waist up, nor did a wizard make him keep his pants on during sex scenes.

 

[Martinski]

Show is better than expected, watching episode 4 now. Henry Cavill is really good as Geralt after one episode he really feels like Geralt.

 

[Alastor3]

If you are fan of series and know Witcher lore this is actually pretty good.

They don't really explain stuff much. They trust you know stuff already and it seems they rush with story.

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Yeah i would had prefer short stories like that Djiinn one, or the beauty and the beast.

God damn Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are so good

 

[HMD]

Why do the sets look so bad? It's like they spread their budget too thin and had to make a lot of compromises. Literally looks like a CW show at times.

 

[Linus815]

Why do the sets look so bad? It's like they spread their budget too thin and had to make a lot of compromises. Literally looks like a CW show at times.

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it looks heaps and bounds better than supernatural which is one of the cw flagships so im really not sure about that. And from what ive seen of their superhero shows as well - witcher looks like one episode has bigger budget than an entire season of those.

 

[CloudWolf]

- at the end of the day, I think Witcher the novel itself isn't actually terribly well written.. we've gotten swayed by the amazing games (actually arguably only W3 was amazing) but the source itself isn't top tier fantasy.. can feel it coming apart at its seams

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Have you read the novels? Because IMO they're pretty darn good. The English translation isn't amazing, but the novels themselves are pretty good. This show is at its best when it closely follows the books and starts to falter as soon as it changes things or goes towards original content.

The story of the books is by leaps and bounds more interesting than that of The Witcher 3 IMO.

 

[Messofanego]

Sexist? In what sense? That's how humanity in the world of Witcher is. Women are thrown around like expendable resources that kings and lords use in whatever way they want. It is different among elves and dwarves, where there is more equality between men and women, but for humans, men are the ones in power.

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It's a sexist medieval-like fantasy world but even then well written and powerful female characters come out in the games, especially Witcher 2 and 3. There was still male eye candy. I'm wondering if it's the same in the TV show when comparing depictions of Triss, Yennifer, etc

 

[Siggy-P]

From reviews, this sounds like there's a lot of objectification of female characters compared to Witcher 2 and 3. Is that accurate? Is there not much male objectification? If so, that's quite sexist, no?

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The script is quite feminist and characters almost word for word monologue about how terrible toxic masculinity is. The women are also very well written, Yennefer in particular is one of the most interesting and dynamic female characters in years.

But visually there are a lot of tits and naked good looking 20 year old actresses. Like a lot. More so than naked men, you know exactly what they're doing. Yennefer again in particular is topless a lot. So visually it's very male gazey.

 

[fanboi]

It's a sexist medieval-like fantasy world but even then well written and powerful female characters come out in the games, especially Witcher 2 and 3. There was still male eye candy. I'm wondering if it's the same in the TV show when comparing depictions of Triss, Yennifer, etc

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So far, middle of ep 5, yea, several strong women.

 

[LilScooby77]

Finished episode 5, don't agree with the negative reviews at all lol. Show's pretty damn good.
Though I agree with others that the pilot was mostly weak.

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Yeah it gets better as it goes. Reviews aren't everything.

 

[Messofanego]

The script is quite feminist and characters almost word for word monologue about how terrible toxic masculinity is. The women are also very well written, Yennefer in particular is one of the most interesting and dynamic female characters in years.

But visually there are a lot of tits and naked good looking 20 year old actresses. Like a lot. More so than naked men, you know exactly what they're doing. Yennefer again in particular is topless a lot. So visually it's very male gazey.

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So far, middle of ep 5, yea, several strong women.

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Good to know, thanks! So not much female gaze stuff so far?

 

[residentgrigo]

And I just finished S01. I was considering giving this a very weak 6/10 on Imdb for my review due to my knowledge of the game and book canon which were the only reason I could follow along but I plainly stopped having any fun by the time the storylines somewhat converged in E07 and such a dramatic show shouldn´t leave anyone with apathy. Play the games instead. They start a bit rough but end in greatness and stay away from the books. 5/10

This is THE review to end all reviews btw, WOW:

I would even call Joker 2019 an incel movie but that one is the best film of the year. This, on the other hand, was 8 hours of pure frustration. That dragon episode is as nearly as bewildering as the 2002 adaptation of it.

On the Geralt likes them young discussion: Shani is 17 in the books when they have random sex the moment they meet and he is at least a senior citizen by then if he remained human. Man, this show has things ahead of it...

 

[thedas]

Yennefer in particular is one of the most interesting and dynamic female characters in years.

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I can't understand for the life of me why would anyone think that tv show Yennefer is one of the most interesting female characters in years. So if you want to elaborate on that I'd love to read it. I'm genuinely wondering, not trying to be mean or anything.

 

[Remmy2112]

Also, to those who've seen the show, is the scrotum armor as terrible as it looked in the leaked pics?

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It is, but there's not a lot of focus on that weirdo looking armor, so far at least.

 

[Tovarisc]

Critics slightly dislike or straight out hate it.

Viewers are loving it.

Edit: 9.1 / 10 on IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180504/

Edit2: If it isn't super obvious this post is over simplification. Not every critic hated it nor viewer loved it.... .......

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

quite a lot of liberties taken from the books, some good, some not so much

i still like it overall

 

[Siggy-P]

I can't understand for the life of me why would anyone think that tv show Yennefer is one of the most interesting female characters in years. So if you want to elaborate on that I'd love to read it. I'm genuinely wondering, not trying to be mean or anything.

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In my opinion she has layers, well acted and rather than be all submissive and meek like most characters of her trope turn out, she handles her tradgedy and journey to power with a very realistic and human rise in resentment and narcasisim.

Granted I've only finished episode 4. If she gets worse after that then I take back what I said.

 

[Flow]

Critics slightly dislike or straight out hate it.

Viewers are loving it.

Edit: 9.1 / 10 on IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180504/

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discussed with another critic before the reviews dropped that this wouldn't be for everyone but we both liked it for the most part. The first two episodes are the biggest hurdles for newcomers.

 

[Doober]

I didn't notice the sctrotum armor at all until it was pointed out.

I'm on episode four so far and although I mostly enjoy it, overall it's just... okay.

I don't expect a phenomenon out this. Kind of doubt it'll get a second season to be honest.

 

[Flow]

I didn't notice the sctrotum armor at all until it was pointed out.

I'm on episode four so far and although I mostly enjoy it, overall it's just... okay.

I don't expect a phenomenon out this. Kind of doubt it'll get a second season to be honest.

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already renewed for season 2 lol.

 

[Tovarisc]

I don't expect a phenomenon out this. Kind of doubt it'll get a second season to be honest.

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It was renewed before 1st season came out...

 

[mhayes86]

Three episodes in and my wife and I are enjoying it. Having read The Last Wish, I feel like episode 2 was too rushed, but 3 was really good.

 

[Doober]

already renewed for season 2 lol.

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I'm legit surprised. Maybe that will give it room to grow into something better, at least.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

Cavill is 100% boring in the role and isnt so much acting as imitating what it's like to be a box turtle.

So he's perfect as Geralt.

 

[Theecliff]

Critics slightly dislike or straight out hate it.

Viewers are loving it.

Edit: 9.1 / 10 on IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180504/

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i wouldn't be surprised if most viewers preferred it over critics (which is almost always the case when it comes to works based on popular properties), but i wouldn't take a imdb rating right now as definite proof - user ratings for these kind of things are always over inflated on initial release as many fans rush to put in 10s the moment they're allowed to (unless there's been substantial controversy leading up to release). that rating will end up dropping a lot from a 9.1.

 

[_Karooo]

I think many people who've played the games love it because they are affectionate towards the characters and the world.

 

[Rendering...]

One episode in. Not completely sold on the production values, or this version of Geralt, but I was well impressed by Geralt's fight scene in the street. Quality choreography. Love it.

 

[Breqesk]

Critics slightly dislike or straight out hate it.

Viewers are loving it.

Edit: 9.1 / 10 on IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180504/

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that's not true, about the critics? i've read plenty of reviews that are positive on it. thinking a thing is good but not perfect is not the same thing as 'slightly disliking' it.