We’ve all probably been watching a bit too much Netflix, even before the pandemic.
Since we have a lot of high and epic fantasy fans, did any of you catch The Witcher, based on the book series? The good thing about the debut season (and most of the Netflix series these days) was that every one of its ten episodes looked like a real blockbuster movie. The scenes were truly epic looking. But when you’re spending $15 million per episode what else would you expect. (How can Netflix possibly keep spending that kind of money? But we’ll save that question for another blog article)
However, as we all know, great visuals still don’t mean that the movie or series is any good. Here’s one reviewer’s opinion:
The Witcher’s showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich has responded to bad reviews of the fantasy series, saying: “I don’t welcome unsubstantiated meanness”.
At the time of writing, the show has a low score of 58% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The Independent’s critic Nick Hilton described the series, which stars Henry Cavill as a monster hunter, as “Netflix’s painfully transparent attempt to fill the Game of Thrones void with more blood and boobs”.
But it was one review in particular that Hissrich took issue with. Darren Franich at Entertainment Weekly wrote that he had skipped ahead to the fifth episode without watching the first few because “life’s too short for Netflix drama running times.” He also described the show as a “borefest.”
I agree with this reviewer. I’m going to be writing a big blog article on fantasy shows as I wrap up my own Fabled Quest Chronicles epic fantasy series. But I wanted to get your comments.
Do you agree with the reviewer’s opinion on the Netflix series, The Witcher? Comment Below
Austin Dragon is the author of over 30 books in science fiction, fantasy, and classic horror. His works include the sci-fi detective LIQUID COOL series, the epic fantasy FABLED QUEST CHRONICLES, the international futuristic epic AFTER EDEN Series, the classic SLEEPY HOLLOW HORRORS, and new military sci-fi PLANET TAMERS series. He is a native New Yorker but has called Los Angeles, California home for more than twenty years. Words to describe him, in no particular order: U.S. Army, English teacher, one-time resident of Paris, ex-political junkie, movie buff, Fortune 500 corporate recruiter, renaissance man, futurist, and dreamer.
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73 Responses
I loved the visuals and world building of the series, but it felt like they only cared about the names of the characters and not the story.
I liked fine enough, but I’ll watch Henry Cavill in almost anything..
I have enjoyed watching the series so far, but there are a few things to be said:
I love the Witcher universe and lore – hence I would normally be very critical of a TV series. However, for this series the tendency seems to be the opposite. Without spoiling the excellent books they consist partly of many short stories – partly of one large story with many side-stories. There is a lot of missing background-information and there is no clear timeline in the order of the books.
Many seem to criticize the series for jumping between timelines and being a bit confusing, but honestly that is a lot like the books. It makes sense as the author is supervising the production of the series as well. Much like H.P. Lovecraft I don’t think Sapkowski ever thought his books would create an actual “mythos” and be read by so many people. Many of his stories are inspired by either Eastern European folklore or fairy tales – for instance both Snowwhite and Beauty and the Beast are inspirations for two of his stories – odd as it may sound.
To actually get some of the background for characters such as Yennefer is actually partly new to book-readers as well. Sapkowski must have worked hard to actually tie a line between many of the characters and plots – and I commend him for his effort.
One final note: I honestly CANNOT respect reviewers that say they skipped entire episodes. It is kind of like walking out on Fight Club after an hour and fifteen minutes – then giving it a review based on what you have seen. Or listening to three songs on an album and then reviewing the entire thing. If you are not going to see it through your review is only helpful to one small sample of people: Those who share your tastes 90%+. Now they are not going to bother.
very good the Witcher I like this story.
Amazing!!