Monsters, magic and fate, oh my! The Witcher is a medieval fantasy series based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s books which is screening on Netflix.
Bloody and violent, the show won’t be to everyone’s tastes but fans of the books or the video games, will find plenty to enjoy, especially in the amazing choreographed fight scenes – episode one being a particular highlight.
Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) is perfectly cast as Geralt of Rivia – the titular witcher/monster hunter – conveying most of his performance through grunts and facial expressions. His performance is complemented by those of Anya Chalotra as sorceress Yennefer, Freya Allan as princess Ciri, and Joey Batey as bard Jaskier, who provides most of the lighter moments throughout the series as well as one catchy tune – Toss a Coin to Your Witcher – an original song from the show.
As a fan of both the video games and books prior to watching the series, I was concerned about the adaptation to screen but creator Lauren Schmidt has done a wonderful job bringing The Witcher to life.
The only concern for those unfamiliar with the source material is the show can be difficult to get into. It isn’t aided by having multiple timelines in play, leaving it up to the viewer to decipher what’s happening. But don’t write it off too early. The episodes are suitably entertaining, often with a ‘monster of the week’ offering, and when you unravel the nuance of timelines and characters, there’s another level of intrigue.
