The Witcher (Netflix)
Dec. 23rd, 2019 11:13 amMy introduction to The Witcher and its universe was the third video game - you know, the one that makes it onto near every list of the best video games of the decade. I started to read the books just a couple of days ago.
I binged the Netflix series last night and have some thoughts:
It really, really wants to be Game of Thrones. It has the same style and tone. The problem is that the story doesn't really support it. The pacing of the show is all wrong. They're trying to fit in too much, so when something big happens, it doesn't have very much impact.
There's also a strange tension between the monster-of-the-week elements of the source and the larger plot. The show moves so fast that they don't have time to do both, but they try. It doesn't really work.
I've heard from a couple of friends who haven't played the game or read the books that the show is confusing. It really is. Hell, the way it jumps around the timeline confused me sometimes.
Then there is the gratuitous T&A. The game had this too, of course. But the way they do it in the show, it just seems like more "we really want to be Game of Thrones." Sorry, you can't. You need more than the two seasons Netflix is going to give you for that.
There are some things I liked about it though. The focus isn't on just Geralt; Ciri and Yennefer get as much screen time. Ciri is boring, but Yennefer's actress (Anya Chalotra) is great as Yennefer. Henry Cavill as Geralt... I'm not sure what I think, but I don't know who I'd want in that role instead. He did alright.
(Though there is an aspect to Yennefer's character that I REALLY WISH men would stop writing, and wish wasn't so heavily emphasized on the show. It basically is treated as her sole motivation and arrrrrrrrgh.)
I binged the Netflix series last night and have some thoughts:
It really, really wants to be Game of Thrones. It has the same style and tone. The problem is that the story doesn't really support it. The pacing of the show is all wrong. They're trying to fit in too much, so when something big happens, it doesn't have very much impact.
There's also a strange tension between the monster-of-the-week elements of the source and the larger plot. The show moves so fast that they don't have time to do both, but they try. It doesn't really work.
I've heard from a couple of friends who haven't played the game or read the books that the show is confusing. It really is. Hell, the way it jumps around the timeline confused me sometimes.
Then there is the gratuitous T&A. The game had this too, of course. But the way they do it in the show, it just seems like more "we really want to be Game of Thrones." Sorry, you can't. You need more than the two seasons Netflix is going to give you for that.
There are some things I liked about it though. The focus isn't on just Geralt; Ciri and Yennefer get as much screen time. Ciri is boring, but Yennefer's actress (Anya Chalotra) is great as Yennefer. Henry Cavill as Geralt... I'm not sure what I think, but I don't know who I'd want in that role instead. He did alright.
(Though there is an aspect to Yennefer's character that I REALLY WISH men would stop writing, and wish wasn't so heavily emphasized on the show. It basically is treated as her sole motivation and arrrrrrrrgh.)