The Witcher - Série 3

I'm really getting fed up with this American version of The Witcher. The charm of the first season is long gone. Since the second season, the creators have completely ruined the world. Forget about sticking to the books – I haven't read them all yet, so I’m not too bothered by that. But from a storytelling perspective, I often have no idea what's happening. Random characters show up with unclear motives, and half the time, it doesn't even feel like it's about the Witcher. Geralt just pops in, says something pointless, and then disappears. The plot only starts to get remotely interesting towards the end – if you manage to make it that far – but then you realize it's Henry Cavill's farewell. Plus, we get Jaskier's gay romance and the usual Netflix antics with characters whose genders are confusingly ambiguous. Netflix really knows how to cast these roles. In the end, I can’t shake the feeling that this series is headed straight into a dead end, with any further development bound for disaster. But let's face it, people will still watch the fourth season on Netflix, because why not? (21.08.2023)

The worst of the trilogy so far. The third season does keep a linear narrative, which logically makes sense, but all in all it's a monstrous hybrid of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and a dark version of Harry Potter, unfortunately, far from taking the best of all three. It only skims the surface, it creates an intriguing fictional world full of potentially interesting people, names, monsters and settings, but it all goes to waste because the characters, their motivations and the creators' ability to guide the viewer effectively and with interest through the story don’t work. Something is wrong when we have to wait until the sixth episode for the whole thing to sort of finally start to make sense. And I'd rather not even go into too much detail about all the WTF moments that are almost unbearable. I would skip the entire penultimate episode and that freak-show of a ball is a disaster too. Where are the darkened Blaviken sets? If I'd known that the best of the series was going to happen in the first few minutes of the opening episode, I wouldn't have even started watching the whole project. (06.09.2024)

It's really sad when I think back to how The Witcher series started its journey with such quality four years ago. But the team around Lauren Schmidt gradually revealed their true colors, and unfortunately, they turned out to be a complete slap in the face to the original book series. The only positive I can highlight across all three seasons is Henry Cavill. He was the only one who understood the monumental series he was dealing with and portrayed Geralt in a way that was a perfect match for the book’s portrayal. Otherwise, I don’t find any other significant positives. Sure, the main characters are still among the best (the relationship with Yennefer keeps it afloat), but everything else is a colossal mess! The subplots are tragic, sometimes making no sense at all. And the so-called action? I really don’t know, but none of the battles could compare to the skirmishes from the first season (especially the marketplace fight with Renfri still stands out). And the digital blood and terrible CGI? It’s baffling given the generous budget. With Cavill gone, it’s going downhill. And now, ladies and gentlemen, imagine that he won’t be in the next season. That’s a recipe for disaster. For me, the third season gets a mediocre 5/10. (08.08.2023)

The creators got to the point where the author of the source material seemed to be experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs, which negatively affected the plot. Well, considering the series hasn't really impressed me so far, I can't say I'm expecting much now. With the Tower of the Gull, the books took a steep decline, but the advantage of the series is that there isn't much room for a drop in quality. I really can't imagine how the whole thing will look after Henry Cavill leaves (who didn't even fit the role), because it feels like he carried the whole show. / Lesson learned: Not even CGI can save a weak story. (27.02.2024)

Big bad. When Cavil isn't chopping monsters to pieces, it's either terribly confusing or boring, often both. I haven't read the source material, but blathering on and on about how important Ciri is and how she's going to change everything can't be enough of a carrying theme for the books, the talk of family is getting worse than in Fast and Furious. The acting isn't really great either, and apart from the main grouch, it's awful, though maybe that's down to the crappy dialogue. Considering how much potential has been drowned in uninteresting political lines after the first season, I'm almost sorry The Witcher wasn’t picked by HBO. Henry Cavil is leaving and I think I'll wrap it up with him. (30.07.2023)