First impression: "The Witcher" looks great, but is (still) a bit lengthy

Luca Fontana

23.12.2019

Translation: machine translated

The first season of "The Witcher" has been available on Netflix since 20 December. The series is dark and brutal, with magnificent locations and impressive fight choreography. But it still has its weaknesses.

The first season of "The Witcher" on Netflix has eight episodes of around one hour each. I have seen four of them. Not enough for a final judgement, but enough for a first impression.

First things first: there are no spoilers in this first impression of the series. You will only read what is known from the trailers that have already been released.

Of the witcher and fate

Witcher. Monster hunters. Mutants, actually. As children, they had to endure cruel experiments: the origin of their sometimes supernatural and superhuman abilities. Now the sorcerers roam the land, killing monsters that plague the people of a nameless continent plagued by political intrigue and conflict. For money, goods or other favours.

One of these sorcerers is Geralt of Riva (Henry Cavill). He is not popular with the people. Although he is hired to hunt monsters, the people fear the stoic loner who carries out his dirty work with a grim expression - seemingly bereft of all emotion, as is the case with the rest of the clan of the Witcher's Guild, or so they say.

While Geralt tries to stay out of the machinations and political intrigues of the humans, the northern, noble kingdom of Cintra is invaded and conquered by the southern, barbaric kingdom of Nilfgaard. The heiress of the kingdom, Princess Ciri (Freya Allan), is forced to flee and is ordered by her grandmother, Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May), to find Geralt of Riva. What Ciri doesn't know is that her fate is linked to Geralt's.

Since before she was born.

Episodic narrative with weaknesses

The beginning doesn't really grab me yet. Perhaps because of the episodic narrative structure of the first four "The Witcher" episodes, where no cliffhanger forces me to continue watching and where - to put it bluntly - essentially the same thing always happens: There is a monster that threatens a village or a castle and that Witcher Geralt is supposed to take care of. And while Geralt does this, we viewers learn new things about the world, society and its political conditions.

For example, that the elves have taught humans to control monsters, demons and mythical creatures using magic. Or that humans later misused the newly acquired knowledge to oppress non-human races such as elves or dwarves - called Otherlings - and degrade them to second-class citizens.

Yes, racism plays a big role in "The Witcher".

While the series is exceptionally good at creating a world that feels alive and inhabited, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of a common thread: Geralt's monster-of-the-week adventures are already told at a somewhat leisurely pace, but further fray with Princess Ciri's escape into the woods. An escape that is unnecessarily dragged out to fit into the one-hour episode structure.

Then, from the second episode, Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) becomes the third main character. This is both a blessing and a curse.

Blessing, because it is Yennefer's story that is the most captivating: she is the physically disfigured young woman who is sold by her father to the sorceress Tissaia (MyAnna Buring) for four brands in order to study magic at Aretusa, the sorceress academy.

Curse, because whenever the story switches back to Ciri or Geralt, it feels like we're just watching two side stories in what is actually a much more important plot centred around Yennefer. This is despite the fact that Geralt is the actual main character of the title. However, it is not Geralt's monsters that lend weight to the plot, but the wizards who pull the strings in the background as official advisors to the respective king or prince and thus rule the human world.

At least in the first four episodes.

The second episode, in which weeks pass in one storyline, but only days in the second and hours in the third, is particularly problematic from a narrative point of view: The idea is good, but the realisation is a muddle. A confusion that is resolved in the two subsequent episodes and provides one or two aha moments. This saves the first half of the first season in retrospect, but the feeling that the story could have been told better remains.

High-quality production. Grandiose choreography. And well cast

In all fairness, it has to be said: It's not the first series that struggles with the introduction of its characters, its world and the actual plot, especially at the beginning, but later becomes great. Like "Breaking Bad", for example. What's more, "The Witcher" is strangely captivating despite its length.

There is this world that has no name and is based on Central European fairy tales and especially Slavic legends. That is unique. Especially because the series contains parodic elements here and there; "Snow White" and "Beauty and the Beast" send their regards.

It is also a world created by the makers with great attention to detail and a large production budget: From imposing castles on the cliff edge above the roaring sea to enchanted little medieval villages populated by the rabble of the world.

And if "The Witcher" gets anything damn right, it's its monsters. To the delight of fans, there are far more of them than the trailers suggested. Their bizarre and distorted design is often reminiscent of creatures from a Guillermo del Toro film. Like the Striga from the third episode. Creepy piece. But a feast for the eyes. There's hardly anything as high-quality produced in the series sector.

Because "The Witcher" is on Netflix, the series doesn't have to worry about restrictions in terms of violence, brutality and eroticism: There is slaughter and murder for all it's worth. With lots of severed heads, arms, legs, leaking intestines and other offal - and not just from monsters. And there's naked skin in every episode. So much that even the first seasons of "Game of Thrones" seem restrictive in comparison.

At this point, a lance should be broken for Henry Cavill, who is often criticised in the DC Superman films: He plays the grumpy Geralt of Riva in a marvellously bad mood. If you watch the original series, you'll hardly be able to distinguish the deep, growling voice from the one in the games. And if I said above that Yennefer's storyline is the most exciting, Cavill's Geralt is by far the most interesting character in the series.

There are also fight choreographies that Cavill performs himself, without a stuntman substitute. And the choreography really packs a punch. The carnage is somewhere between animalistic-raw and strangely graceful. This pleases the John Wick fan in me, who likes to see clearly what is happening in front of the camera.

And the fighting starts right from the beginning: In the books, Geralt of Riva is also known as "the Slayer of Blaviken".

The first episode takes place in Blaviken.

First impression: Looks good, but could be better narrated

"The Witcher" is said to have convinced those responsible at Netflix of its quality so much that they announced a second season before the first was even available.

I'm not quite that euphoric. Not yet. But after just four episodes, I don't want to make a final judgement, but rather a first impression. And it's good. Not outstanding or stunning, but good.

The show values are there. The series feels epic and produced to a high standard. With the exception of the one battle in the first episode: it is a far cry from the staging genius of a "Battle of the Bastards" from "Game of Thrones". But everything else is just right. From the terrifying monster design to the elaborately designed cities, castles and fortresses. And the characters, albeit in plots of varying degrees of suspense, are interesting enough to keep me watching.

However, now that the characters and the world of the witcher seem sufficiently established to me, I'm expecting a plot that feels more coherent and less episodic. That would be good for the suspense. <p

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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