The Witcher – Noituri - Série 2

My favourite example of a source material vs movie adaptation is Jurassic Park. Crichton's book is brilliant; Spielberg's film is brilliant. What do they have in common? Cloned dinosaurs, characters, an island… And that’s about it. If I approached this series like the almost zealous Sapkowski fans here, I would have to send Spielberg to burning hell. But, why would I do that? If the film was stupid, perhaps. But what if it is great? It’s the same with The Witcher, I love the books, the game (the third one) is one of the best I’ve ever played. The original Polish series was a massive event back then, and the first season of this new version won me over more than I’d expected. The second season carries on with that. It may have abandoned that slyly entertaining narrative in several timelines, but that wouldn't have made sense here anyway. What's especially great is how the creators keep capitalising on the first series, revisiting various things that happened in it and went away, and forging a pretty interesting story that – and this is important – still has that Sapkowski in it. It's easy to get upset about the departure from Slavicism, to spit on all the different races that show up, to shake your head at the fact that something is different than it was in the book and to throw a tantrum, but when you get so into it all that you forget to have fun, you pout, you don't give the show a chance, and you feel like the great critics who understand it all; that’s just sad. I don’t know what I would give to be able to watch the third season right now. (28.12.2021)

A little better than the first season. Though the second season starts great, especially for those who don’t know the source material – it's more accessible, more cinematic, simpler. At the same time, it's appropriately dark and epic, with a hero who continues in cool mode on the edge of good guy and ruthless killer – though he's a little closer to the former. Unfortunately, the second half turns from an adventure ride into a political and conspiratorial maelstrom, with each of the several parties pulling their own strings and having their own agenda. And unfortunately, without the skill of the creators of Game of Thrones, so it's boring as hell. The finale is just satisfactory, not great. (16.01.2022)

After the first season, I was a bit hesitant, but I held onto hope. Now, after the second season, that hope has vanished. It's similar to what happened to Game of Thrones, just a bit earlier on. I get it, the script can't always perfectly match the source material, but in this case, it feels like only the name remains from the original. It baffles me why some filmmakers think they can cover up script and casting flaws with a massive CGI spectacle. Instead, we're left with more and more side storylines that often lead to dead ends. Meanwhile, digital creatures roam around, looking like they've wandered in from Evolution (2001). Then there are the new questions. Why is Geralt called the White Wolf when his hair color reminds me more of Gandalf pre-Balrog encounter? Did the series creators use the Nilfgaardian invasion to divert attention from the Afro-Indian hordes infiltrating Slavic fantasy? Who knows. Undoubtedly, the upcoming seasons of this "masterpiece" will have some explaining to do. To put it in aviation terms, this series is in a descending spiral, and if this keeps up, it's heading into a tailspin. 2*- (31.01.2022)

A lot weaker than the first season. The first episode is great, but then it all starts going downhill. Political intrigue, sudden changes of direction, some unimportant people discussing the war and I fell asleep. Geralt and Ciri are super. Well-acted characters. The rest are a bit boring, as a rule. The dialogs are very stiff, dumbly pointing out things that would have been obvious with a better screenplay. The action is fine, but there is too little of it. The production design is great and the monsters intriguing. I am reading the book and it seems the creators aren’t being faithful to it; maybe next season. Just look at what happened to Game of Thrones when the creators began improvising. (22.12.2021)

One of the most anticipated series of the year, The Witcher, judging by the reactions, probably didn't quite live up to its potential. Fans of the games and books are quite disappointed, but for me, as a non-fan of the source material, just purely from the position of a fantasy-loving viewer, I enjoyed it more than enough. Henry Cavill once again proved to be a great casting choice and Freya Allan as Ciri is also great. I'm a bit disappointed with Yennefer, she has no powers the whole series and thus her line is quite uninteresting. Marigold traditionally sings great and the rest of the characters didn't impress me that much. The storyline, like the first season, is quite challenging to navigate, there are lots of towns, locations, names and characters, but I had a similar problem with Game of Thrones, it wasn't until somewhere around seasons 3-4 that I started to get a good feel for the characters and towns, so I don't take that as a complaint. What does kind of hurt is that they skimp on the action – one monster per episode is not enough, but when they do show up it's sleigh down. All the monsters are among the top of all fantasy and it is R-rated (I don't remember other R-rated fantasy stuff) so the juicy gore at times suits the series damn well, but I wanted more of it. Fortunately, the series is entertaining, with expensive production design and engaging enough even in the more intimate scenes that I didn't slip into boredom once and that's what counts. I'm satisfied.Story 4/5, Action 4/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10. (04.01.2022)