Mesmerizing: The Witcher

I was happy to learn about The Witcher adaptation on Netflix on the horizon, but I have to admit, I was not excited by their casting of Henry Cavill as Geralt. I came to this franchise through the Witcher 3 game, and was of the firm believe that the actor playing Geralt needed to have a gruffer look. 

Well. I stand corrected. Henry Cavill is Geralt of Rivia. He's absolutely perfect, and his love of gaming and of these characters in particular shows, and shows well. The voice he puts on is absolutely amazing, and everything I hoped it would be. So is the dry humor that I've come to love Geralt for. 

Enough gushing about Geralt. Time to gush about the production values, the setting, the costumes (except for many of Yen's - they were ridiculous), and the fights - ohmygod, the fights. I could have taken a lot more of those wonderful combat sequences, and the choreography that felt really unique and exciting and utterly compelling. Especially Geralt's first big fight done in one take. That was absolutely incredible, and I was grinning ear to ear for a long time. I haven't felt this excited about a series since Castlevania. I devoured this show, and am very very glad that it will be getting a second season (at the least). I hope it gets a thousand.

The show was fleshed out by really interesting characters, some familiar some not, of course. But all the casting is well done, and Yennefer, Ciri, Tissaia are all super interesting, as is the way the world is slowly being established in the show in a way that should satisfy both newcomers to the content and die-hard fans. It was very clever to intersect multiple timelines at the start of the show so that the characters could be established in their own right, and then bring them together to see how all their stories weave and fit together. Much better weaving here than on, say, Game of Thrones, where the tiniest snippets of people no one cares about took away from the things that were actually exciting here. There was a care and balance brought to each of the main story threads, which made is super satisfying to see develop and connect as the season progressed. 

Also, Jaskier is hilarious, and the on-screen chemistry between him and Geralt is just perfect.

The Witcher is an absolute delight, a genre fan's paradise. Those numbnuts who panned it without watching it are...well...numbnuts. 

K Rating: 5/5