Not too long ago, a new fantasy series hit our small screen. The Witcher, based on the work of Andrzej Sapkowski, is now part of the Netflix family! From an obsessive fantasy fan, here are my thoughts.

The Witcher

SPOILER ALERT is in effect! Movies and Series are dissected, and plots revealed.
MATURE AUDIENCE: Subjects of violence, torture, sex, and gore are part of this article.
TRIGGERS: Depression, Language, PTSD, ‘Racism.’
Consider yourself warned!

Now, Netflix‘s The Witcher invades small screens!

The Witcher is a fantasy series of novels and short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the titular “witcher”, Geralt of Rivia.

In Sapkowski’s works, “witchers” are beast hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle wild beasts and monsters.
— Wikipedia

The Witcher Invades Small Screens

The book series saw the light of day in 1986 with The Last Witch. The novel series ended in 2013, but spin-offs are available as well as short stories.

While the first novel came out in 1993, it was in 1986 that short stories from The Witcher written by Sapkowski became available to the public.

The series itself inspired movies, series, graphic novels, and of course, many books. Throughout decades, the adventures of Geralt of Rivia grew to the point where Warner Bros made a video game franchise, which became a success.

The Witcher Netflix

I had no idea until researching the series that movies existed. A while ago I read the novels, maybe a little too young if you ask me.

I fell for the philosophy, the character of Geralt, and his mental battles, as well as his constant fights. He wasn’t a saint, but he wasn’t a villain, either.

When Netflix decided to strike a deal to make The Witcher series, I was excited. Netflix has no fear to put the budget where they see potential when it comes to their original series.

With that said, I waited to see the one actor to portray Geralt of Rivia. My first reaction, “Fuck me.”

The Small Screen Witcher

The face of Henry Cavill as Geralt was everywhere. Fans from everywhere divided on the choice I debated for a long time in my head if the series was worth watching.

“Henry Cavill is not much of an actor. Limited in his capabilities of reflecting the depth and selling a character, time, and time again, I gave his movies a shot and ended disappointed. Cavill is one good looking Englishman, and that’s all she wrote…” WRONG! SO WRONG!

When I am wrong I have no problem admitting it . I watched the movie Immortals and found him emotionless and everything about him robotic. Watching the movie, I realized it wasn’t just him but the whole cast. Then, I glanced at a scene from Man of Steel—recognised the actor and wasn’t impressed. Can I really have a clear idea of what an actor can do with one movie and a quarter? No. Not even close.

What made me decide to sit down and watch The Witcher? I watched Blood Creek—a horror movie, yes, Henry Cavill was in a horror movie, review here!—he was mind blowing. It’s one of my favourites among The Exorcist, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Martyrs.

So, I finally decided to sit and watch The Witcher, hoping Cavill would magically bring back the good actor I saw in Blood Creek. I was speechless.

The first episode was like pulling teeth when Henry Cavill was on screen—to me it was like all those sort of “pilot” episode where everyone is a bit off, but the scenery and the story itself were terrific. His looks was spot on and so was his attire and clothing.

The Witcher of Netflix

When watching the second episode, Cavill finally found his place. He owned Geralt of Rivia, and there was no stopping him. Cavill found the perfect character for his fighting skills that are ever improving.

The fight scenes are marvelous and deserve watching over and over again. Cavill’s sword fighting skills are impressive and of excellent caliber. I believe every single move he makes in a fantasy setting as in a medieval case it would be different.

Geralt and Cavill are one in this series where a monster killer is debating if his destiny is an exact thing or complete bullshit. Geralt is a jaded witcher, and Cavill plays it quite well.

When doing research for this review I found out that Henry Cavill is a gamer and a nerd himself. We’re all aware of his computer-building skills and his ‘haunted house—wait, what? Story for another day. Haha! What came out in my research was how he enjoys fantasy and actually read The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski originally published from 1986 to 2013. Did he read the entire series? I do not know. But he enjoyed playing The Witcher III on his PC is what I could find.

Just like Sir Christopher Lee—may he rests in peace—did for The Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy as an on-set unofficial consultant, Henry Cavill became a source of knowledge while filming.

Maybe that is why the series feel true to its original content. I only read two of the books back when I was a tween and half of the third—I was a dork…still am! I could recognize, while watching the series, some scenes and some dialog that clicked in my head as if I read it before. I highly hope that anyone in charge on-set keeps listening to Cavill when it comes to bring justice to this amazing work of fantasy.

NOTE TO SELF: Maybe I was entirely wrong when watching Man of Steel with this scene I witness and will watch the movie from beginning to end. As a DC Comics‘ fangirl it might be quite a review from me on the Arkham Inmate Podcast.

The Witcher Netflix Fantasy

The CG in the series comes in small quantity and is best that way. You get that SyFy Face Off feel when encountering many fantasy beasts and creatures, which I prefer.

The quality of special effects in technical aspects and makeup is incredible and believable.

When watching a fantasy series, the expectations are high due to the fantastical work of Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as well as HBO‘s Game of Thrones.

The Witcher‘s team was ready, I believe. The budget permitted them to venture certain places I thought they would stay away from with meeting armies and battle, and dragons.

Netflix’s The Witcher invades small screens in a way that is big screen worthy!

The Witcher Invades Fantasy

The world of The Witcher is quite different than Tolkien’s or Martin’s. Sapkowski’s journey mainly happens on one continent. Creatures such as Elves, Humans, Witches—mages, sorcerers, dragons, and druids among monsters are at play.

Just like in most fantasy stories, dragons are rare, and the ones we see are unique. Without giving away spoilers, HBO’s Game of Thrones‘ dragons and Smaug set the bar high in terms of looks and personality.

The Witcher had to meet the bar as well as making the dragons unique. They did. They succeeded by going down the dinosaur path, and it worked quite well in their favor.

Small Screen Witcher

Converting a novel series into a television show is hard work. Sometimes what we read is not visually as easy to translate as we think. One must decide what is necessary and what is better left behind. It is sometimes a masterpiece and sometimes a heck of a mess.

However, Netflix was capable of achieving a good result with the first season of The Witcher. Yes, it can be confusing at times to understand the timeline if you’re not used to the book series, but stick with it because it is worth it.

The castles, the battles, the mystery, and creatures encountered in the first season of The Witcher are incredible. The script and delivery perfect for people who read the novels or are fans of Sapkowski.

The Netflix Overall

The music is quite enchanting. It is reminiscent of Brunuhville‘s amazing Celtic and fantasy music. The entire team working behind the series’ first season is impressive.

Rated 8.4 on IMDB, the series is, of course, a hit. The second season was, in fact, under approval a month before its release on Netflix. After all, the series ended on a cliffhanger and had viewers wonder where Geralt would go from that moment.

I highly recommend the series. Because now, Netflix’s The Witcher invades small screens and it’s worth watching! I give it a solid 8/10.

The OCD Vampire,
Winter DuBroc