The Witcher

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Dec 20, 2019
Season #: 4, 3.5, 3, 2, 1
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2682 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,028 out of 2682
  2. Mixed: 201 out of 2682
  3. Negative: 453 out of 2682

Review this tv show

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling

User Reviews

view
per page
  1. Bruterake
    Nov 22, 2020
    6
    É ok, os efeitos especiais minha nossa podres mano. Tem umas parte meio jogada mais o principal é carismático e arrasta a série nas costas para o 6 de 10.
  2. geewah
    Jan 14, 2021
    6
    Was unsure of what to expect from this, but as someone who has played the games, there is a rich and diverse world to work with.
    It's a shame we got a bit of a sprawling mess across to many timelines. Sometimes a more linear approach is the best.
  3. TwiTu
    Jan 1, 2020
    5
    Its watchable. But not that great.
    The virtue signalling undertone is very present and destroys this fantasy with politics from the real world. Thats that. But even if you ignore that, the casting and actors arent that great either, mostly very bad actually. The actors playing Yennefer and Geralt are the best, yet they cant really save this series from mediocrity, and even if they are    Its watchable. But not that great.
    The virtue signalling undertone is very present and destroys this fantasy with politics from the real world. Thats that. But even if you ignore that, the casting and actors arent that great either, mostly very bad actually. The actors playing Yennefer and Geralt are the best, yet they cant really save this series from mediocrity, and even if they are good actors, they were still badly cast. Geralt simply doesnt look like He-Man, like this actor does.

    The writing is bad, too. You feel as if youre dropped into a hot pot of stuff you have to know but dont know. Especially if youre not great with names this will confuse you a lot at the start.

    You never get a feeling of epicness like in the games or books. It feels childish and cheap, best comparable to Hercules or Xena. Even though it uses a lot of nudity and gore. They think (judging from the sad music) that you feel for this or that character, that this or that character dies, yet you dont feel anything for them, because the series never establishes their character well and makes the dialogues very weird and awkward, unnatural. Its worse than on The Walking Dead. The story feels extremely rushed, as if they try to explain the whole Witcher universe in just a few hours. Maybe it should have had 24 episodes instead of just 8. But I guess thats just signs of the time. Characters and their personalities arent important anymore, because we live in a very anti-social time because people are mostly sitting at home, not having much social interaction anymore - and thats me saying, who isnt really the biggest social interactive person either.

    The jokes are unfunny, mostly because you cant really build up a relationship to the characters because of the reasons I already mentioned.

    People comparing this to Game of Thrones have obviously never watched Game of Thrones. I cried like a baby many times when people died in GoT or something bad happened to them. Here I dont even flinch.
    Its like comparing a Lada to a Maybach.
    I get that some people are starved for a fantasy series after the end of GoT, but this is in no way a substitute.

    Oh yeah, and the excessive use of colored contact lenses (sometimes they wear them, sometimes they dont, sometimes they are not centered, sometimes they are) also add to the childishness of this series. It looks completely unbelievable. Directors should know that in the age of 4K resolution.    … Expand
  4. Jenne
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    It's not completely dumbed down and Cavill is actually great. But it looks cheap, writing is mediocre, music forgettable and the trademark Witcher vibe is just not there. It's clear the people responsible saw the show as just another job, instead of a spiritual mission like CD Projekt Red did with Witcher 3.
  5. georgio
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    When I watched the first episode I was hooked. Henry Cavill as Geralt was superb and the show had the dark theme to it that the Witcher deserves. However it all somehow goes downhill from episode 4. The plot dashes from one place and time to another in rapid sequences. Character development seem to be rushed for the sake of moving the story. The acting of some of the new characters isWhen I watched the first episode I was hooked. Henry Cavill as Geralt was superb and the show had the dark theme to it that the Witcher deserves. However it all somehow goes downhill from episode 4. The plot dashes from one place and time to another in rapid sequences. Character development seem to be rushed for the sake of moving the story. The acting of some of the new characters is questionable as is the decision about what to focus on. By the end of episode 5 I had to force myself to watch it to the end. It just does not click.

    I think the show would function much better as monster of the week story. In a way that let's say Supernatural or even Mandalorian does it.    … Expand
  6. TheWaffle
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    Words I never thought I'd say: Henry Cavill is the best part of this show. There is a fight scene towards the end of episode one that got me real stoked for this show, but that turned out to be a flash of brilliance, and not a sign of things to come. And when the bad guys start shooting arrows at a literal castle wall, I realized that there was not much thought going into this show. TheWords I never thought I'd say: Henry Cavill is the best part of this show. There is a fight scene towards the end of episode one that got me real stoked for this show, but that turned out to be a flash of brilliance, and not a sign of things to come. And when the bad guys start shooting arrows at a literal castle wall, I realized that there was not much thought going into this show. The Witcher is fine, but forgettable.… Expand
  7. Turbodowg
    Jan 2, 2020
    5
    The Witcher is okay... it never gets close to brilliance, but it isn't terrible either. It's somewhere in between passable and average.
    It lacks the magic that made both the books and the game so brilliant, but it does have some strong points; mainly Henry Cavill. He play's Geralt to almost perfection and looks exactly like the character in the game. The series would have worked much    The Witcher is okay... it never gets close to brilliance, but it isn't terrible either. It's somewhere in between passable and average.
    It lacks the magic that made both the books and the game so brilliant, but it does have some strong points; mainly Henry Cavill. He play's Geralt to almost perfection and looks exactly like the character in the game. The series would have worked much better if the focus was on Geralt, taking on a new Witcher contracts and fighting a different monster of the week each episode.
    Instead the series attempts to introduce the viewer to a ridiculously large cast of characters over a long period of time within the eight episodes, which ultimately leaves each character feeling flat. The story feels messy and without any on screen dates, or a map it is very hard to follow when and where the story is taking place.

    The other major issue is that they made some strange choices with the casting of characters, forced diversity is squeezed into every shot to fill Netflix's bizarre and over the top diversity quotas. It just looks out of place having POC I a show based on Polish folklore. The show also focuses way to much on the female characters and side-lines Geralt.
    Triss was completely miss-cast and badly written and many of the other characters you will not care about.
    Visually The Witcher looks good, but lacks any grand vistas or scenes that made the game so spectacular. The CGI monsters are ropey and would have looked a lot better if they had been physically created.
    Apart from all the poor stuff mentioned above, I did really enjoy a number of the episodes, Betrayer Moon been amongst my favourites as it feels the most suited to a Witcher TV show.

    As a fan of the games and books I’m pleased they made the show, and hopefully if it gets a season 2 it will be improved. I’d certainly recommend it to fans to watch (for curiosity) but I can’t see any non-Witcher fans getting much enjoinment from it.    … Expand
  8. RiaskoFF
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    Very boring. Was watching it on the second screen while clearing old raids in World Of Warcraft and still almost died of boredom (at least i looted what i want from Black wing Lair). The only nice thing about the series is Henry Cavill.
    Maybe I'm just not a witcher-fan-boy, but thats definitely not my cup of tea.
  9. smentek
    Dec 21, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Acting is good but nothing spectacular. Including Cavill as Geralt. But he convinced me, and I think I will see him in more positive light later in show Freya Allan is actually very good.
    It looks to me like most of the comments here giving 10.0 is artificial. Nothing justify that high score! Not if you are fan of books/game and it is even less likely if you new to it. The show is rather bad. But if you are teen or big fan of fantasy, then you may still like it. But giving it 10? No way. I watched first episode and may continue it another day, but without enthusiasm. One of the best short stories from the books, is trimmed mercilessly in order to push some well known 'fall of the kingdom' drama cliche into episode. It could be add later on, in couple of short scenes, as retrospective. But no. We have to say it all "again" at start, to have that "grand opening" that someone envisioned. I'm really open to new ("old" I should say) ideas, but it have to work well. Instead it ends up with utter lack of tension! They had great book do adapt, and safe would be to keep plot close to it. Even if it would end up being miniseries. The problem is: Sapkowski short stories are really well written. There is not much to cut off or trim from it without destroying it utterly.
    Fighting scenes do not work either. All bogus. It lacks of speed it lacks of "reality" - that may not the best word for it, as some better CGI is also needed. But above all much more production time and effort! Also stunt doubles. Martial art masters? Would it be so difficult to hire some? We do not need Cavill doing it all by himself. Without high quality fighting choreography this show will not fly. Unfortunately money went on horses instead. But not for the music, is terrible! Violence and sex all PG-13. That I can understand. But some of the stuff i do not get at all. For instance in first episode Geralt is being told by other characters that he needs new clothes (repeatedly - It may be that they "think" he stinks, after bath in the swamp, but it ended up about cloths in dialogues. Magician door is open for everyone. Guarded only by illusion. But worst is that in last scene Geralt leaves market first, in result allowing Sorcerer to continue his intended work. What kind of men would do that?! So our main character is compromised already. Not the Geralt I like or respect.    … Expand
  10. winzentween
    Jan 25, 2022
    5
    Season 1 review: Im a huge fan of all things witcher so trust me when i say it's not terrible but sadly it's far from good. Though the cgi IS truly terrible at times, as are the shockingly cheap sets. The acting is too often confused and wooden as the script is a complete mess. All likley due to the weak direction and a total lack of quality control. Not sure who to blame but it's likelySeason 1 review: Im a huge fan of all things witcher so trust me when i say it's not terrible but sadly it's far from good. Though the cgi IS truly terrible at times, as are the shockingly cheap sets. The acting is too often confused and wooden as the script is a complete mess. All likley due to the weak direction and a total lack of quality control. Not sure who to blame but it's likely the show runner who has a track record of hit and miss projects. Sadly this is no game of thrones! It does get better as it goes along (but not by much) though it's just so much worse than the books or game or even the anime. The brand deserves so much better. The anime despite it's own problems really nails the feeling of what it is to be a witcher while this show doesn't have a clue. It's embarrassing at times how cheap and lazy the production is. I believe Henry has actually taken tips from fans for s2 because he had as much of a clue who Geralt was.. as the show runner. It's a real shame as the casting is excellent as is the source material. The show is technically based on the books but clearly the games as well even if its not officially acknowledged. The show is much like xena and hercules but not as fun. It's also inexplicably dumb at times but this might be due to the misuse of the giant budget. Also It is all filmed in a weird disconnected order to its detriment as it confuses viewers. I believe this was the show runner attempting to make the missteps in production more interesting in editing. Maybe season 2 will be better now it's so popular. I Hope so. Worth a look but keep expectations low. Like really low...as there are equal good parts as there are clunky stinking ones :.

    Also if you do love the games go watch the nightmare of the wolf anime first. It's meant to help with season 2 but it's just so much truer to the brand than much of season 1. 6/10

    Ggg    … Expand
  11. QACritic
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    TL;DR :Bad choices in story telling and casting make the Witcher series lose what made the Witcher books/games interesting.

    I see a lot of fans reviewing unrealistically either giving it a 10 because they ae fans and love the Witcher games/books and want this to succeed or a 0 by the fans who are pissed of that the show is kind of average virtue signaling bs that does not work with the    TL;DR :Bad choices in story telling and casting make the Witcher series lose what made the Witcher books/games interesting.

    I see a lot of fans reviewing unrealistically either giving it a 10 because they ae fans and love the Witcher games/books and want this to succeed or a 0 by the fans who are pissed of that the show is kind of average virtue signaling bs that does not work with the Witcher setting. The reality is that this show is just average TV with nothing to recommend to anyone new and disappointing for existing fans. So a rating of 5 to 7 is the best it cloud do given the production company the show runner that does not understand the source material and Slavic mentality that produced the Witcher books and what made them unique as compared to the **** of similar fantasy drivel available by native English speakers.

    The only character from this show that are good are: the actors for Geralt, Queen Calante, Mousesack, Eist.Pavetta and Tissaia everyone else is not portrayed well either due to directing/writing or bad acting (although this is not much of an issue).
    Very little left of what made the books and games interesting (read all and played all). I had low expectations due to the "diversity hires" (which make for some WTF moments) but that is the least of the problems in the show. The main problem is the story telling, you get most of the end at the beginning which could work if the series was a movie and moved way faster than it does. The bad interweaving of the different story line makes things even worse because it is just pointlessly confusing especially for people new to the series (if you are one of those please read the books they are much better). The really missed opportunity is that the first two books that this season is based on are composed of short stories that could have made good introductory season.. After that there is enough content for at least 2-3 seasons.
    Yennefer should have been a supporting character until she was needed for the story instead we got a lot of torture porn that ruined her character based on a few lines of guessing by Geralt in the books, it does not help that the actress cannot convey a character that has age and experience hiding behind a pretty face instead we have a petulant child as Yennefer.

    Comparing this to GOT is a joke since this is a 3 compared to seasons 1-4 of GOT and barely better than season 8.    … Expand
  12. starilent
    Dec 21, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The story telling is a mess. Too hurry and chaos. The parts of Yennefer and Geralt are good, and the actor and actress perform very well in my opinion. But the timeline and most characters' relationship are not good. They tried to make you feels sad when some character die, but you might not have time to know these character. And even though I think Yen's part are good, this character isn't charming as she is in the original books and games. She's childish, cynical. The show didn't convinced me, that she is the woman who Geralt would suddenly falls in love with her.

    And I don't thing people who hasn't read the original books or played the games will fully understand what happened in the show. Because they cut a lot of important and key in formations out, like what is a witcher, where they come, why people hate them, what is Dryad, why human fears them(they looks like normal human in the show)...etc.

    The musics and battle scene are good. But the visual effects feels very cheap.

    Overall, it's not a bad show, but is not good as well.    … Expand
  13. MadMax09392
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a huge fan of the books and honestly this adaptation is not as bad as I feared it would be, average is the best way to describe it with some bad some good and a few excellent things.

    First the pacing of the story is all over the place and with the different timelines people will be Lost (pun intended)

    The acting is uneven there are some great performances some very bad ones and the same is true for the special effects and costume design but it does have some amazing moments the striga story is very well done and the practical effects on this monster are great.

    It's watchable and entertaining while not being anything special hoping they improve on things for the next seasons.    … Expand
  14. ali_khunaizi
    Dec 22, 2019
    5
    it's good... surely worth its production and I believe it will get better and better in the future seasons, keeping in mind that it was a tough introductory season, what next is the best.
    unless they ignored what the audiences are saying.
  15. McCorius
    Dec 26, 2019
    5
    I was very excited for this show. I love the Witcher Video Games but haven’t read the books. It would be so easy to turn this into a great show and it may still become one. However, the strange way they lay out the plot jumping in time and place is confusing. Whenever Gerald is on screen it works but other times I found myself struggling to care about what’s happening. Now that allI was very excited for this show. I love the Witcher Video Games but haven’t read the books. It would be so easy to turn this into a great show and it may still become one. However, the strange way they lay out the plot jumping in time and place is confusing. Whenever Gerald is on screen it works but other times I found myself struggling to care about what’s happening. Now that all the characters are laid out it could still settle into a decent show. For now it’s just kinda meh.… Expand
  16. Orestes
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    What I miss the most is good dialogues and good acting. Cavill as Geralt is fine, but the rest of the cast is an abomination. I cannot empathize with any of the characters, they al seem modern actors not prepared to incarnate pithy fantasy characters. The dialogues obviously do not help at all. I don't believe in this mythology that they are trying to convey, their words doesn'tWhat I miss the most is good dialogues and good acting. Cavill as Geralt is fine, but the rest of the cast is an abomination. I cannot empathize with any of the characters, they al seem modern actors not prepared to incarnate pithy fantasy characters. The dialogues obviously do not help at all. I don't believe in this mythology that they are trying to convey, their words doesn't communicate reliability or seriousness. I miss real drama in here. People tend to think that fantasy worlds cannot have dramatic plots, rich narratives and poetic backgrounds, but that was precisely what made Game of Thrones so big. The photography is nice, the setting location was a good choice (thumbs up for the Canary Islands) and even the fighting choreography is pretty decent. I give them that. Nevertheless, I will never take this tv show seriously because it lacks authenticity and credibility. The actors and actresses are not believing in their lines. It's like watching puppets (Not Herson's puppets, that's otherworldly). They are dressed and equipped with fantasy kits but they don't believe in fantasy as a legitimate genre. The show hasn't got a soul. It has beautiful facade but not a single glimpse of heart. It is really dissapointing to see once again how producers take fantasy for granted as a tradable currency. Good fantasy requires a tremendous delicacy and touch and over all good lines for the characters, to make them feel alive and important.… Expand
  17. Igor_Pleshkov
    Dec 25, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Сериал заслуживает 10, но -1 за Трисс Меригольд, -1 за излишнюю толерантность, -1 за броню нильфгарда и Карыга лучника, -1 за музыку я бы мог перечислить ещё много минусов, но не буду. Некоторые моменты получились очень хорошо: Тиссая Де Врие прекрасна именно так я представлял её, Геральт хоть это и сепермэн-геральт неплох, Лютик тоже получился хорошо(кроме песен).Я читал все 7 книг прошел ведьмак 2 и 3 и я не против отступления от канонов. Автор имеет право добавлять что-то от себя немного переделывать сюжет для себя и своего видения, но авторы уж очень перестарались. фильм прекрасен, но его некоторые детали не дают восхищаться им. Жду 2 сезон и надеюсь они исправят многие недочёты хоть героев уже не поменять. Советую прочитать книги они намного интереснее… Expand
  18. oldtimer_za
    Dec 20, 2019
    5
    Pros:
    - some genuinely cool fight scenes.
    - great backdrops and environments. - Interesting ideas and world. Meh: - Some wooden acting. - some cheap costumes. - boring filler scenes instead of important ones. Cons: - Super cringey dialogue (especially Yennefer's). - Over acting and forced reactions. - Confusing layering of events timelines.(Only until 4 or 5 episodes in does    Pros:
    - some genuinely cool fight scenes.
    - great backdrops and environments.
    - Interesting ideas and world.

    Meh:
    - Some wooden acting.
    - some cheap costumes.
    - boring filler scenes instead of important ones.

    Cons:
    - Super cringey dialogue (especially Yennefer's).
    - Over acting and forced reactions.
    - Confusing layering of events timelines.(Only until 4 or 5 episodes in does it all click).

    An entertaining watch but it's closer to BBC's Merlin than it is to HBO's Game of thrones.    … Expand
  19. Bubber
    Dec 21, 2019
    5
    It's not horrible, but it's a missed opportunity to make a great series due to poor adaptation and the way they felt the need to add forced diversity to the cast plus other progressive ideas that just don't fit in the Witcher universe.

    Overall disappointed.
  20. Olbery
    Dec 21, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The plasticine ears of elves and the red-faced features of the face of their king, who is dressed as a bum. Banquet hall in aretus with loft-style walls of broken brick and tables with crackers at the reception of all the kings of the north is also ok? And the fact that Gerart’s embarrassment simply dragged the castle all night, while she was gutting the rest in a split second, did she fall in love in any other way? And the mine in Temeria where they walked along the floor with a vacuum cleaner - otherwise it is difficult to explain that cleanliness. Black Elf. Nilphs who run scattered on heavy cavalry, and that in turn is waiting until they get closer to a distance of 20 meters are also normal? Yenifer, who fell into a couple of minutes to wait until they brought her sleeping pills and suffered infernal torment - is this justified right? The Volttest, which looks like a greasy unwashed drunk (he was even better in the Polish series) was normal too? Dryads with crossbows, and an intrusive incomprehensible glow in the forest. The dragon looks cartoonish. They killed Myshovur, who lives and lives in the book - why was this done? The battle at Sodden is generally some kind of shame - where is the epic, a hundred nilfgaards - is this the great battle at Sodden?

    P.S. I will add that Geralt, Buttercup and Cyri turned out to be very good. The color palette and the music are very good. The battle scenes look impressive and delight the general plans of nature and Cintra. I hope in the second season there will be more budget and more logic in the script.    … Expand
  21. Lordwerneo
    Dec 22, 2019
    5
    No doubt, if Netflix were those who screen the Chernobyl tragedy, it would be full of asians and blacks. Same with witcher, did they even try to read the book?

    The special effects look good, the location is chosen more or less well, but the series deviates from the plot, there is no dating, the cast is horrible, the ideology of the characters is wrong, it's a failure!
  22. RHIT
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    Requires a second season to make sense but Henry Cavil was born to play Geralt.
  23. Everything
    Dec 23, 2019
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It could be so good but the stories are rushed, some of the best part have been cut or changed to be worse.
    The sorceresses have been misused as not one of them exudes the confidence and class ascribed to their respective characters in the books. They act more like 19 year olds in their first convincing cosplay than 100 year old mages and Yen bothers me the most. The facial expressions she makes and the manner in which she delivers insults feels bitter and immature, not powerful, confident, and snobbish. This could just be bad writing but one way or another it needs fixed. This is after her transformation, the acting before is good. Some other parts from Yens story will either leave gaping holes in the plot or require extensive revision of it.
    Some characters have been done well though, Geralt and Jaskir are great, Ciri is good as well though there is room for improvement in all 3.
    For the smaller fights the choreography is great but the larger battles are not good and in Sodden Hill's case really is a massive let down compared to what it should be.
    The ending along with the stories have been changed in ways that have lost a lot of the emotional impact that the books had.
    The writing needs a lot of work, sometimes its good and sometimes its bad, sometimes i felt like the writers didn't know what they were making and a few times you can tell what was from the books and what was made up by the writers as it became a lot watered down.
    With Nilfgaard and Fringilla there are a lot of changes and i dont think anyone of them is for the best. There are more points but this is quite long now so overall whilst enjoyable for some parts there are a lot of things that need changing and made better. 5/10    … Expand
  24. LordCrash
    Dec 28, 2019
    5
    People tend to compare the Witcher to Game of Thrones but that's probably the wrong take. The show never wants to be any serious and it never actually tries to achieve any depth or nuanced meaning that would elevate it above the usual cheesy sword and sorcery pulp fantasy. The Witcher is more like a 2019 version of Xena or Hercules. It's an anachronism that acts like Game of Thrones andPeople tend to compare the Witcher to Game of Thrones but that's probably the wrong take. The show never wants to be any serious and it never actually tries to achieve any depth or nuanced meaning that would elevate it above the usual cheesy sword and sorcery pulp fantasy. The Witcher is more like a 2019 version of Xena or Hercules. It's an anachronism that acts like Game of Thrones and other groundbreaking TV shows in the past 10 or 20 years never happened and that shows like Xena or Stargate were still the pinnacle of great TV entertainment. The show can only be seen as naive fun but not as anything with a serious message or story. It's only fitting that its budget seems to be severly limited, resulting in poor costumes, ridiculously poor attle scenes, completely unbelievable medieval weaponry and fighting and bad CGI and special effects.

    The Netflix adaption also shows no respect and has no understanding of its own source material. It lacks all the core strings of the novels, like the Slavic melancholia, its nuanced but very down to earth dialogues, its lifelike and nuanced characters, its complex political and societal elements, and most important, everything about Geralt's and Ciri's relationship and the true meaning of destiny. It only adds to the the show's mediocrity that it has a terrible "telling instead of showing" habit that results in bad dialogues and many repetitions. The show also only rarely cares to show its characters motivations. They just act because they plot needs them to act in a certain way.

    If the prospect of a shallow pulp fantasy show with the flair of the old cheesy sword&sorcery series of the 1990s and early 2000s the Witcher might be exactly your kind of thing. Or maybe you only want the characters from the games be part in a series? Have fun watching it, it won't do you any harm. Anybody looking for a deep and nuanced show that builds upon everything that happend in the genre in the past 10 years or a show that transports the core elements of its source material should maybe skip and watch something else - or just (re-)read Andrzej Sapkowski's fantastic novels.    … Expand
  25. Cesium06
    Jan 1, 2020
    5
    I'm a huge fan of the Witcher. I play Gwent regularly. I've read the some of the books. I've played all of the games. However, this show is still pretty mediocre. Odd pacing. Most parts fairly unenjoyable and unnecessarily drawn out. Anytime Geralt is on the screen it's an enjoyable adventure. I found myself skipping ahead to get back to the parts with him in it.
  26. Hills
    Jan 11, 2020
    5
    1. Henry Cavill isn't well suited for that taciturn role
    2. There wasn't a specific direction of the plot
    3. No Captivating scenes asides the action
  27. busiek
    Jul 3, 2023
    5
    I watched first season - it was... meh, but Henry Cavill was very good as Gerald. "I'll give them a chance!".
  28. kingzardoz
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    I am reviewing this from the perspective of somebody who has only played the games and never read the books. I just ordered the books in the hopes that I can wipe this show from my memory. My expectations were very low for Netflix's The Witcher. The trailers looked cheap and I can't think of the last time I saw a good netflix produced show. All the woke culture aside, this show fails atI am reviewing this from the perspective of somebody who has only played the games and never read the books. I just ordered the books in the hopes that I can wipe this show from my memory. My expectations were very low for Netflix's The Witcher. The trailers looked cheap and I can't think of the last time I saw a good netflix produced show. All the woke culture aside, this show fails at the basics. There is maybe only one good human vs human fight scene in the whole show. Any fight scene with a monster is poorly executed and lazy. The writing jumps all over the place with way too much time spent revisiting the fall of Cintra. The depiction of magic ranges from ok to terrible. I can overlook many problems but they eventually become too numerous to enjoy the show. If you read the books I can imagine this series becomes unwatchable. The only way you might get a watchable Witcher series is if it got Lord of the Rings money behind it. Unfortunately I think Hollywood would still find a way to mess it all up.… Expand
  29. VonSeux
    Dec 20, 2019
    4
    Don't you feel disconnected from the show when everything, even light, is post processed, and so... Fake? I do not care about book or game fidelity but this is just not good drama.
  30. Nobilis1984
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    So I don't really know what you wanted here.
    It's optically good and the consequences are all not bad.
    But why do the supporting roles get so little screen time? The supporting character from the first episode is very interesting but is eaten up in 20 minutes. Really great job.
    The three main characters are too much in focus.
    Therefore, this series is also only mediocre.
  31. Hawk235
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Как фанат книжной саги пришел в ужас от сценария и повествования. Смысл каждого книжного рассказа исказили почти во всем,а где не исказили приходиться додумывать самому. Ну и финальная сцена это что такое было вообще? Как можно было слить самую трогательную сцену в книге? Цири бежит обниматься к человеку,которого никогда не видела. В книге у них был мотив - они встречались в Брокилоне и привязались к друг другу. А тут добавили ту же сцену, но вырезали главное. При этом зачем-то еще вплели сюда Ренфри,что Геральт должен искать какую-то лесную деву и он поэтому побежал в лес,а Цири типо узнала его из снов и побежала обнимать незнакомца. Это равносильно,что я сейчас кого-то увижу во сне и потом встречу его в жизни и побегу к нему обниматься. просто гениальная завязка сюжета!… Expand
  32. Paul_M_Dema
    Dec 20, 2019
    4
    It's painful to see the lose of such great story. No eastern Slavic environment, feeling, All diversity thing is so random and nonsensical. Battle scenes are pathetic and typical hollywood **** that does not care about simple armor and weapon logic.What a waste of time
    Few point for Gerald being the one of few thing good in that series
  33. AngryShark92
    Jul 6, 2020
    4
    + Henry Cavill is surprisingly good
    + Subtle nods to the source material
    + Good soundtrack + CGI is passable - The diversity casting really ruins the immersion - Convoluted storyline - Pacing is all over the place - Some of the casting choices are very weak in terms of competence - The time jumping is a bit jarring, especially for newcomers - Does not follow books or games close    + Henry Cavill is surprisingly good
    + Subtle nods to the source material
    + Good soundtrack
    + CGI is passable

    - The diversity casting really ruins the immersion
    - Convoluted storyline
    - Pacing is all over the place
    - Some of the casting choices are very weak in terms of competence
    - The time jumping is a bit jarring, especially for newcomers
    - Does not follow books or games close enough
    - Fails to prioritize the adventures of Geralt and his monster encounters

    Oh boy, I have watched through this for the 3rd time with the books and the games fresh in my mind and it has drastically changed my opinion. I originally gave this an 8, and I feel like that was way too generous.

    I will commend everything that was done well first. Henry Cavill, while some others may not like him, I thought he did a pretty good job at playing Geralt. He seems to portray the game version of Geralt, more than the book version, which will only make sense to those who have consumed both. His range of emotions are not too impressive, but his tone, stature, and look, certainly resemble his in-game version well. I also enjoyed some of the soundtrack and score, as well as some of the monster CGI considering the limited budget a pilot season would have.

    Now into the bad...

    This politically correct, diversity hiring nonsense really has to stop. It hurts this show so much for the fans who actually care deeply for the books and the games. None of these characters outside of the few Zerrikanian or Ofieri characters should be anything but caucasian. It is the same disappointment when Hollywood whitewashes Asian movies, or if we decided Bollywood films should only feature Latinos... it makes no sense, it's not racist, it's just calling out the disrespect to the source material and time period when it deserves it.

    This leads into forcing the actual fans into breaking immersion from what they already know from the books and games. Triss, Fringilla, and the Brokilon elves are the biggest culprits when it comes to this. If you played the games, this is especially jarring for Triss and Fringilla who are now black women. If you've seen Triss or Fringilla in the games, this will look incredibly silly and poorly casted. Triss, a caucasian female, with pale white skin, (book/game respectively) chestnut/fiery red hair, blue/green eyes is now a light-skinned black woman with brown hair and eyes... Fringilla, a caucasian female, with pale white skin, green eyes, and black hair is now a black woman... it is just a complete joke and betrayal to the source material.

    Yen, makes no sense at all, the actress is clearly of Indian descent, and looks way too young and submissive to play someone like Yen. I don't blame Anya for this as it is an incredibly tough role to cast and play, and she certainly looks like she is giving it her best, but none of these characters are casted well.

    There are a few other minor characters here and there like Vilgefortz and Danek who also suffer the same diversity-washing nonsense, but they are not given too much screentime anyways. The only good casting choices seemed to be Geralt, Ciri, Jaskier, and uhh Roach.

    Alongside all of the casting issues, the storyline is just a jumbled mess. There is way too much time jumping that is, even to me, a confusing, convoluted mess of a way to tell these stories. Stories that don't entirely line up with the books or games, which to me, seems like an absolute waste of resources. This alienates fans of the books and games, as well as potential newcomers to the series exclusively through Netflix.

    I also cannot stand how much of a missed opportunity there was with respect to Geralt and his Witcher contracts, I thought these were the best bits of the show, the games, and the books. There are so many interesting contracts that Geralt takes on early, and I was sad to see such little time spent on them. Perhaps the CGI cost too much. I hope we see some more in the second season, where I will try my hardest to ignore all the awful casting choices that have been made.

    Overall, there's potential, but this series needs a lot of work and a bigger CGI budget to keep me interested. I also hate to say it but, a new writing team will be desperately needed to salvage this series if they continue attempting to tell the story this way. The forced diversity cast really is the punch in the gut for this show as well, as it will turn off a lot of the loyal fans of the books and games... and I wonder why even do it? To pander and score points with these critics who gave this a 5? I do not know why the project lead would even consider this as the series should be aimed at the incredibly large and faithful fanbase over these hyper-progressive fanatics that will probably never watch this. Guess we'll see what Season 2 does. This is a failure of a season for me after re-watching a few times. 4/10    … Expand
  34. AzorAhai98
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A moment of silence for the slavic people. The TV Show is based on a slavic book series, yet there are more black people and Indians than slavs. The showrunners are using a beautiful slavic fantasy story for their political agenda.
    Horrible casting, costumes,music and boring storytelling. They even managed to make the battle sequences boring. Henry Cavill is the only good thing in this whole mess.    … Expand
  35. K47
    Dec 20, 2019
    4
    Series is trying to be the next Game of Thrones, which is pointless because Witcher books are completely different story and also fails as a GoT rip off. Messy storyline, empty scenography, lack of atmosphere, I didn't like it.
  36. Poisonedblade
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    Henry Cavill did a great job as Geralt, and the effects and music are pretty good.
    But the writers are the Butchers of Blaviken. The story skips back and forth so much, it feels like you're reading chapters of the books in random order. I doubt people new to the series can follow the story. When you do this, you ruin the character and story arcs, so the audience stops caring.
    Another    Henry Cavill did a great job as Geralt, and the effects and music are pretty good.
    But the writers are the Butchers of Blaviken. The story skips back and forth so much, it feels like you're reading chapters of the books in random order. I doubt people new to the series can follow the story. When you do this, you ruin the character and story arcs, so the audience stops caring.
    Another issue is the forced diversity. Every group of people needs 1 black person. This is historic fantasy, not the Twitter offices in SF. It becomes a distraction and you aren't going to get black people to watch the show just because a few boring side characters are black. Nobody is that racist. This is like remaking the 7 Samurai with a Mexican, Black dude, a Woman, Gay White Guy, and 3 Japanese guys. Nobody cares about race quotas and it ends up being a distraction.
    The Witcher features:
    1 black dryad. Just one.
    1 black elf . Just one.
    1 black elite guard in Cintra. Just one.
    1 black sorceress. Just one.
    If Vesemir was in this, he'd probably be played by Kevin Hart to fill the 1 black guy quota.
    Netflix should have had Geralt kill a monster per ep, and in the season story arc, fill in the progress of the Nilfgaardian Army. Also post the year when you need to skip a head. 1272 Temeria... 1273 Cintra...    … Expand
  37. EFRAM
    Dec 25, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When will any streamer, or for that matter any network at all create a show that has fantasy in reality structure and not based on a series of books which cannot ever be plowed into a reasonably watchable scripted series. Such is the case with The Witcher, an uneven oft times annoying treatment of the video game and subsequent books that came before it. A usually loquacious and amiable Henry Cavill is relegated to grunting monosyllabic answers and surly undertones. The storyline is a wandering mishmash of "you're supposed to already know the language and dialogue and dialects of the inhabitants of The Witcher milieu" tropes. I wanted to like the series, but again I was both annoyed and disturbed by the lack of great storytelling this kind of material needs. And lets not forget the Bard who makes his appearance in episode 2, to the dismay of both and Gerald of Rivia and everyone else I have canvassed. Come on Netflix, lets dispense with this adaptation of novels and video games and give some real show runner creators a chance to create something totally original and geared towards an audience that is hip, smart, and waiting for you and Amazon and Apple TV and Hulu and Peacock and everyone see to step up to the plate.(At least Amazon tried to do this with Carnival row, which I am sad to say was also a miss the mark presentation) the Wticher, for all its video game and novel appeal is a distinct disappointment.… Expand
  38. notor12
    Jan 6, 2020
    4
    Clearly this show was done on the cheap, like everything else Netflix puts out these days..... It definitely suffers from it.

    Henry Cavill is a decently believable Geralt but pretty much everything else going on here is just convoluted and terrible. I couldn't get through the first episode the story and dialogue and acting are just so bad all around. Henry Cavill is seriously the    Clearly this show was done on the cheap, like everything else Netflix puts out these days..... It definitely suffers from it.

    Henry Cavill is a decently believable Geralt but pretty much everything else going on here is just convoluted and terrible. I couldn't get through the first episode the story and dialogue and acting are just so bad all around. Henry Cavill is seriously the only tolerable actor in the whole thing everyone else is just so bad you'll want them to stop talking. Nobody is remotely likeable aside from Geralt and there is very little character development.

    What a shame. The Witcher universe has a lot of potential for a television series but this definitely isn't it. I know people say it gets better further in to the season than i got but sorry if you cant make your first episode at least tolerable you are doing this all wrong and im not wasting hours hoping youll figure it out later on. First impressions matter and the first episode is the most important one if you wont invest in it your audience wont either.    … Expand
  39. ortigr
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    В целом, все не так плохо, как казалось по трейлерам. Но, и ничего хорошего тоже нет.
    Если сериал воспринимать не как официальную экранизацию книг пана Сапковского, а как кинофильм по мотивам, так сказать, фанфик, то да, Ведьмак даже смотрибелен.
    Но никак иначе. И дело не в том, что в средневековом сетинге куча негров и азиатов, в конце-то концов, это не наш мир, там было сопряжение    В целом, все не так плохо, как казалось по трейлерам. Но, и ничего хорошего тоже нет.
    Если сериал воспринимать не как официальную экранизацию книг пана Сапковского, а как кинофильм по мотивам, так сказать, фанфик, то да, Ведьмак даже смотрибелен.
    Но никак иначе. И дело не в том, что в средневековом сетинге куча негров и азиатов, в конце-то концов, это не наш мир, там было сопряжение сфер, так что вполне себе оправданно что пришла мешанина из разных рас и народов.
    Дело все в том, что все эти актеры, которые создают массовку населяющую мир Ведьмака - банально не красивые, ну и еще плохо играют....
    Вот ей богу, я таких страшных и не красивых эльфов давно не видел.
    Им нужно в Властелине колец орков без грима играть, а не эльфов в Ведьмаке...
    Тоже касается Йенифер и Трис - они просто страшные и не красивые, особенно Трис.
    Вот что, сложно было что ли найти красивую рыжую бабу?!
    Зачем было брать на роль страшную мулатку????
    А Йенифер, так, вообще стала какой-то там цыганкой, малолетней.
    Хотя, что им мешало взять за образец образ Йенифер из компьютерной игры Ведьмак 3. Ведь там она шикарна!
    Единственный с кем нет проблем, так это Геральд.
    Как не странно, но Генри Кавилл и смотрится вполне естественно и играет более чем сносно!
    Для меня, это практически 100% попадание в образ!
    Правда, с глазами все плохо. Желтые линзы из магазина все для праздника - сильно портят образ.
    Но это относиться уже к другой проблеме, которая заключается в том, что Нетфликс дали откровенно мало денег на экранизацию Ведьмака.
    Дешевизна, а также фанера и вата лезут из каждого кадра.
    Но, самой, самой, главной проблемой сериала Ведьмак является его сюжет.
    Точнее адаптация книжного мира под мир сериала.
    Мир сериала безжалостен для тех кто не знаком с Геральдом из Ривии.
    Никто не озаботился сделать вводную серию, чтобы познакомить неискушенного зрителя с миром Ведьмака, рассказать ему основы и ввести в курс дела.
    Нет, сериал берет с места в карьер, пуская несколько магистральных сюжетных линий в разных временных плоскостях.
    Это, опять же, принижает сериал до уровня фанфика, когда одни фанаты делают для других, и плевать они хотели на людей со стороны.
    Мне-то все понятно, но я читал весь цикл и играл в Ведьмака 3, а вот новичок быстро запутается и заскучает.
    Второй существенной проблемой сериала, относящейся к сюжетной сфере, является попытка авторов сделать сериал - гендерно-толерантным.
    Так на каждую минуту Геральта приходится 2 минуты Йенифер и других женских персонажей...    … Expand
  40. aksakal
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    I finished all games and never tried books so I'm comparing show to the game series.
    Overall I can rate the show as average. Average for Netflix, not average overall. Picture is boring. I don't rate Game Of Thrones as high as others but I have to admit that it has a really nice picture and Witcher is not even close.
    There are no Polish/Slavic culture references at all. It was a nice pick    I finished all games and never tried books so I'm comparing show to the game series.
    Overall I can rate the show as average. Average for Netflix, not average overall. Picture is boring. I don't rate Game Of Thrones as high as others but I have to admit that it has a really nice picture and Witcher is not even close.
    There are no Polish/Slavic culture references at all. It was a nice pick for the in-game atmosphere and made it a bit different from other games. Netflix removed it completely.
    I feel no witcher spirit in the show too. It's just another typical middle age Europe with some magicians and creatures just like in many other tales/fantasy books.
    Geralt doesn't match with my in-game experience. He is too shiny and occasionally emits pathos. It's definitely not what I expect. I assume that he was Hollywoodized for the main audience but it came with the price of a lost spirit. Is it a Geralt of Rivia or Conan's The Barbarian little brother?
    Storytelling is too fast for me. I like to either know the story behind the character or just meet the stranger without any backstory. The choice obviously depends. Witcher show is right in the middle. I see some backstory but it's short and fast so it's hard to draw a reasonable picture of a character in the head. Also a horde of characters appear in initial episodes so it's hard to keep track of who is who. I want to see a slower pace! Make it step by step. Don't focus on just the main story. Give us some side stories for secondary characters too.
    All these problems are bad enough to make me pay zero attention to multiple missed casts and black elves. By the way, I haven't spotted any Asian people. Why are they missing? Isn't it a racism too? Why?
    I finished 3 episodes so far and that's it. I don't see any reason to continue at this point but I have to admit that it could be way worse so I hope that Netflix can improve it in upcoming seasons.    … Expand
  41. RandRobert
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    I really liked Geralt and Buttercup, but everything else is just a shame, this is the witcher for the smallest, without the political intrigue and racism of the original. Well, negros and Indians are not clear where they are present on the white mainland
  42. Redfrod
    Dec 20, 2019
    4
    if you are not familiar with Witcher. You haven't read books or played games, then you will like this series, but for me it's something strange and it's nothing to do with the names of the heroes here.
  43. mko0
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    Show as its own medium wasn't terrible but disappointing for sure. Mostly misscast with exception of Henry Cavill who fit and i liked him as Geralt. Fighting scene and choreography was good. Cinematography was decent - enough for TV show. Scenography was acceptable but often uncreative and lazy. Music generic and lazy. CGI of monsters good with exception of dragons. Storytelling wasShow as its own medium wasn't terrible but disappointing for sure. Mostly misscast with exception of Henry Cavill who fit and i liked him as Geralt. Fighting scene and choreography was good. Cinematography was decent - enough for TV show. Scenography was acceptable but often uncreative and lazy. Music generic and lazy. CGI of monsters good with exception of dragons. Storytelling was chaotic which lead to lack of bond with characters and missed emotional impact on viewer.

    With this production team this show was destined to become disappointment. Script writer completely misunderstood the point of what first two books all are about and butchered source material. Those books are not telling about escaping Ciri for eight episodes. They are not about to show how strong and independent women is Yennefer. Those stories are about Geralt on the path and through his journeys build a world, characters and their relationship. Don't get me wrong i'm not against changing original stories or creating new ones to better fit cinematographic narration of the whole show. But what we got here is mostly chaotic non-canon bu****it that provides mostly suffering to fans of the franchise.

    As fan of books - avoid this show.
    As fan of games - decent but depends on your taste.
    As someone new to franchise - can be enjoyable but misleading about what The Witcher is about.    … Expand
  44. Baluz0r
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    Отвратительный каст актрис, только Цири хорошо вписывается (правда с возрастом косяк), Кавилл нормально вписывается, но ТРИСС, ЙЕН ПРОСТО УЖАСНЫЕ, это просто шок.
  45. indy650
    Dec 21, 2019
    4
    This series totally fails. The fight scenes are good and some of the CGI is good. They skip around like crazy and skip over tons of parts of the stories they are trying to portray to the point they barely make sense. I did my research and knew this show was going to suck but it is still disappointing as The Witcher is my favorite fantasy world.
  46. ExoticMortgage
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Just SAD. Had to create an account just to rate this as one of my favorite franchises is getting destroyed by a staff with ulterior motives.

    Let's start with the positives:
    - Henry Cavill gives a good shot at portraying Geralt, good voice acting, simple dialogue, sarcasm a bit here and there.
    - Combat scenes (apart from the first Nilfgaardian battle) are good and thought out.
    - Some CGI of monsters and practical effects are also very good.
    - Some of the landscape that was not CGI is beautiful too.
    - Music feels authentic.

    And that is it.

    Now the negatives:
    - The plot is a mess. Everything is getting thrown all around with confusing timelines and lore is being force fed to user like it was a Foie Gras duck. The creators don't give time to explain all of this. The mini stories (curse ones) of each episode are too fast paced and you don't get the feeling of any story developing at all. It just moves forward like a machine.
    - The dialogues are bad. You don't feel any chemistry between characters. The lines are being dropped once again in a lazy fashion. Ciri met an elf that saved her from Nilfgardian patrol, he doesn't speak. He later saves her again from a camp; later in Brokilon realizes she is a royal descendant. Then he starts to drop truthbombs about how her grandmother had slain his relatives. All this with no feeling or soul whatsoever. Their conflict is forced upon us. It had no chance of developing naturally because everything is too fast paced. There is no character revelation. Not a single character has a compelling story arc.
    - Miscasting - Physical appearances are way off. Yen has to be a feared mage yet she looks almost like a kid with puppy eyes. Triss and Fringilla ? More like Friss and Tringilla - the nonexistent characters of Witcher universe that the writer did not include.
    - Diversity. I think it was time creators obsessed with gender and race inclusivity started to make their own projects and stopped piggyriding on established canons. Totally ruins the immersion. I wouldn't want to watch John Q with Brad Pitt portraying him. Creator Lauren Hirssich spent her time arguing on Twitter why it is a good thing and why skin color doesn't matter because books don't focus on it. Well there is a lot of 'pale face' mentions attributed to characters that now somehow have become black in the show.
    - Lazy CGI. You have parts where everything is great and then there are just inexcusable scenes.

    In general you have a feeling that The Witcher TV series has been made by creators who don't love the source material or don't understand it and just pretend to be on the bandwagon. Good writing and sticking to great storytelling has been exchanged for dull jokes, appealing to minorities and pressing social norms.
    Game of Thrones had set a good bar of character development and storytelling (not talking about the total massacre of characters from s6 and upwards). Why not learn from it?    … Expand
  47. Basiheu
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    I was really looking forward to this one so I'm disappointed. It's "cute" but very amateur. Like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Amateur writing, amateur direction, amateur props, costuming, and cgi. I had to do a double take with a creature and some costumes, I cannot believe these were designed and approved by adults. Unbelievable. Writing, well, there are anachronisms everywhere andI was really looking forward to this one so I'm disappointed. It's "cute" but very amateur. Like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Amateur writing, amateur direction, amateur props, costuming, and cgi. I had to do a double take with a creature and some costumes, I cannot believe these were designed and approved by adults. Unbelievable. Writing, well, there are anachronisms everywhere and certain scenes meant to elicit emotion from the viewer should come with an audience prompt. Henry Cavill's Geralt is the same as the game's Geralt: wooden and morose. But at least he's accurate and hasn't gone off on some crazy tumblr fanfic improv like the writer has.… Expand
  48. AlexBaer
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    The production is amazing, the acting is... varied. Very. But above all, the script writing absolutely dismal. What could have been a fantastic series is in reality very, very difficult to get through. It feels as if they're trying to fit in so much in so little time that nothing is properly explained, resulting in confusion, plot armour even beyond the GOTC final episodes, and incrediblyThe production is amazing, the acting is... varied. Very. But above all, the script writing absolutely dismal. What could have been a fantastic series is in reality very, very difficult to get through. It feels as if they're trying to fit in so much in so little time that nothing is properly explained, resulting in confusion, plot armour even beyond the GOTC final episodes, and incredibly cheesy scenes trying to make plots work. Very disappointed for what could have been. The production really is very good, though. Maybe I'll take a stab at the books.… Expand
  49. Vitaminxa
    Dec 22, 2019
    4
    Very disappointing. Dialogue is very unnatural and cringey at points. Timelines aren’t easy to follow if you aren’t familiar with the source matieral. Casting was only so-so. Poor production value really detracted from everything. Overall it’s a poor reflection of the Witcher series. Wish they did a better job when they had wonderful source material.
  50. Kheliko
    Dec 23, 2019
    4
    Henry and Anya are great and the action is solid. That said the terrible time skips ruin any type of build up. Very little world building or lore is given. I guess they assume you should know? Ciri's story should of been put thru out the final 3 episodes instead of the entire season. 2 episodes could of easily been combined since they are almost exactly the same footage with Geralt beingHenry and Anya are great and the action is solid. That said the terrible time skips ruin any type of build up. Very little world building or lore is given. I guess they assume you should know? Ciri's story should of been put thru out the final 3 episodes instead of the entire season. 2 episodes could of easily been combined since they are almost exactly the same footage with Geralt being in one of them to show he was there. Just poor decisions when editing this togather. I do hope it manages a season 2 to give it the respect it needs.… Expand
  51. The_Tron
    Jan 1, 2020
    4
    I went into it expecting the worst after seeing some of the garbage from the "writers" on twitter as well as the horrible Nilfgardian armor design (dickheads and shriveled scrotum's because "lol patriarchy" according to the rumor). After watching it there was some good with the bad. Henry was a much better Geralt than I was expecting, some action sequences were pretty good. There areI went into it expecting the worst after seeing some of the garbage from the "writers" on twitter as well as the horrible Nilfgardian armor design (dickheads and shriveled scrotum's because "lol patriarchy" according to the rumor). After watching it there was some good with the bad. Henry was a much better Geralt than I was expecting, some action sequences were pretty good. There are definitely pacing issues, and it's easy to get lost if you're not paying attention. Yennefer's story is full of cringey moments and in general I just couldn't stand the character. A lot of the casting choices screams of identity politics more than being faithful to the books. And yes that horrible Nilfgardian armor design. Every time it's on screen I can't stop rolling my eyes and cringing like I just ate a lemon. And this is supposed to be a menacing force? It just seems so out of place and doesn't even align with other factions armor which all are more historically representative.

    Overall it's got it's moments but I felt it was painful to slog through.    … Expand
  52. IJustRoastedU
    Jun 15, 2022
    4
    Omg! The first episode was pretty good but everything else just was terrible to watch! This should have a 4/10
  53. Ghua
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    Cavill really fits the role. Thats about it - all good things I can say about the series.
    The rest is... mediocre. There are good moments, but rather due to good original book material than to netflix.
  54. Orion8725
    Jan 1, 2020
    3
    I neither believe in 0's nor 10's unless a show or game has a great impact on the genre. The books were enjoyable and on par with the Sword of Truth or GoT books. The Witcher 3 ruined RPG games for me. By that i mean I cannot think of another RPG that comes close to it and now find all others rather boring. That being said, The Witcher 3 for me was a 10 with the books being a high 7 or 8.I neither believe in 0's nor 10's unless a show or game has a great impact on the genre. The books were enjoyable and on par with the Sword of Truth or GoT books. The Witcher 3 ruined RPG games for me. By that i mean I cannot think of another RPG that comes close to it and now find all others rather boring. That being said, The Witcher 3 for me was a 10 with the books being a high 7 or 8.

    The more invested you are in the books and especially the games, the less you will find this show enjoyable. Casting, like others have mentioned, is poor for several characters. Henry does a good job, but he is not enough to save this series for me. I really wanted this show to shine but it simply falls short of expectations from missed opportunities with story to odd changes to the story that adds nothing to the show.

    if you have no clue what you are getting into, you will find this probably a 6 out of 10. If you read the books, perhaps a mid to high 4 or perhaps even a 5. If you are a huge fan of the games, you are looking at a 3 or lower. In a perfect world, HBO would have picked this up and contracted with some of the CD Project Red writers. Instead, we are left with something that is simply mediocre and not a TV series that I will watch a second time.

    A great review of the show can be found by someone I consider an even larger fan than myself, Witcher George on YouTube, who did a great job of revealing the issues with this series. For all the gamers out there, we still have Cyberpunk coming soon. For book fans, perhaps HBO will pick up The Sword of Truth and we can finally have our fantasy escape many of us are looking for after the end of GoT (excluding the last season) and whatever this is trying to be.    … Expand
  55. gilga73
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    As long as show stays with Geralt`s storyline for first 2 or 3 episodes one can imagine this could be a very decent reimagening of Witcher`s Saga. Some storytelling problems along the way (Yennefer`s story mostly), but there is a window in future to explain some dialogues. So, you are still intrigued.

    And then comes a complete clusterf**k of Disney-preteen-3rd wave feminazi dissasterous    As long as show stays with Geralt`s storyline for first 2 or 3 episodes one can imagine this could be a very decent reimagening of Witcher`s Saga. Some storytelling problems along the way (Yennefer`s story mostly), but there is a window in future to explain some dialogues. So, you are still intrigued.

    And then comes a complete clusterf**k of Disney-preteen-3rd wave feminazi dissasterous scanario. Not gonna spoil here - you really need to see it.

    As a long time Witcher VG player and Slavic mithology enthusiast I`m completely shocked with incompetence screenplayers are steering this show forward.

    Cats should not become a movie, Witcher should have not become a TV show. I have spoken.    … Expand
  56. sarisa
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    Well, what did we expect from Netflix anyway? They need to sell this product worldwide somehow. To be honest it could be much worse considering their agenda. And we all know it. Simply saying it's the only possible Witcher that could have emerged in XXI century. Its bad testimony of our times, but it is some sort of testimony.
  57. KB5K
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    The Witcher delivers a fantasy experience like none other---it's the kind of fantasy experience you haven't felt since a Sunday afternoon rerun of Xena: Warrior Princess came on after another Sunday afternoon rerun of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

    Eesh...

    ...On the bright side, it's not a bad show to fall asleep to. It also works as effective background noise while doing housework.
  58. DPblX043
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Слишком все толерантно. Плоой подбор актеров и нет той самой славянской атмосферы. Слабо!
  59. thebaggins
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    My thoughts and prayers go out to those who don't have the ability to fast forward.
  60. drewanenomor
    Dec 27, 2019
    3
    This show does not fill the void of Game of thrones. I really can't stand the way Cavill has decided to deliver his lines..
  61. Gulla1
    Dec 30, 2019
    3
    First episode was good. The rest are lowering your hopes for the next one. The technology in making is good - but the manuscript lacks pace and smartness.
    Sorry to say this is a great opportunity gone bad.
  62. SeussMyTub
    Dec 27, 2019
    3
    The production values are good, and Henry Cavill is a decent actor, but the story sucks. The Bard is the most annoying character on TV and he sings in each episode? Awful. Like a poor man's version of Game of Thrones.
  63. Smalo
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    Hennry is good as Gerals everything else is not good. The Witcher should be on slavic culture not on western and there this show lost it s soul.
    I would get 0 score but i will get 3 just because of Hennry.
  64. Somewhat
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    So what did I learn from Netlflix The Witcher pilot?

    - buff guy and giant ass monster can easily hide in a shallow pond while fighting, but only until the little deer will spot them, after that they can barely fit in - when facing enemy forces, fighting inside a castle is gay - better leave it with little to no defense and face them in the flied - bad guys have magical sniping    So what did I learn from Netlflix The Witcher pilot?

    - buff guy and giant ass monster can easily hide in a shallow pond while fighting, but only until the little deer will spot them, after that they can barely fit in
    - when facing enemy forces, fighting inside a castle is gay - better leave it with little to no defense and face them in the flied
    - bad guys have magical sniping abilities and can shoot a target in the eye during a battle from a solid distance
    - cavalry is useless
    - armor is made of tin foil and can be cut through and penetrated with a single blow
    - arrows and missiles are gay, that's why only bad guys use them
    - spears are big gay, that's why no one uses them in combat
    - siege equipment during sieges is not cool - better charge at the giant ass gates with swords and axes, three people at a time
    - when enemies are at the gates, better wait till they breach and only then start running away
    - having sex with someone will make your partner prophet and give you magical mind reading abilities
    - refuse to help someone when they are in grave danger, but run to their help as fast as you can 12 hours later
    - city market is apparently an alley with no shops, stands or goods in general
    - army, that conquered half the world, has no concept of shields - good thing that they are useless anyway
    - you can walk through the entire city, while holding a knife near little girls throat and no one will bat an eye
    - what should you do, when someone just butchered your entire gang single-handedly and now begs you to leave? Threaten to kill a little girl and then the entire town, sure nothing can go wrong with that

    But the biggest lesson I've learned is to not waste my time on a mediocre TV-adaptation of fantasy novels.    … Expand
  65. sub-madara
    Jan 2, 2020
    3
    Okay so I give it a 3 because near the end or in the end its a little fixed, I hope they improve. You know game of thrones had a bad ending, hope this one( witcher) starts bad ends good. But no enviroment and no atmosphere. Two persons I liked was jaskier and tissaia. Geralt was meh.
  66. TheDevilCorrect
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    Horrible casting, horrible acting and an absolutely incoherent story. I like the game, but these fan boys raving over this pile of crap is mind boggling. Most of them 12 year old males no doubt (or equal in mentality). Every actor in this series is totally forgettable. The fight scenes are pretty good, but short and better watched on youtube. If you have any taste at all-I'd seriously avoid.
  67. Tiberiy
    Jan 9, 2020
    3
    The series average. A lot of empty chatter about the unfortunate elves, the palette of the world is very gray, the graphics are not always at the level. One of the advantages of good fight scenes. Who played the game will be disappointed. But that's only in the first two series.
    However, by the middle of the series accelerates and becomes not bad.
  68. ouideer
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    My problems with the new Wither series is the total lack of taste and creative design of every aspect of the episodes while it lacks authenticity and credibility. You can see no good acting neither, but I‌ could live with that if at least the creators of the show would have tried to make the characters look like they are coming from an age where they were fighting with swords and magic.My problems with the new Wither series is the total lack of taste and creative design of every aspect of the episodes while it lacks authenticity and credibility. You can see no good acting neither, but I‌ could live with that if at least the creators of the show would have tried to make the characters look like they are coming from an age where they were fighting with swords and magic. Like Game of Thrones attempted, where people are sometimes dirty and disgusting. Here nothing feels disgusting as even the protagonist is kind of a weird version of Barbie’s bf: Ken and the crippled girl in the second episode is basically Penelope Cruz with something in her mouth and some wadding under her clothes at her shoulders so she looks like Penelope Cruz dressed as Quasimodo for Haloween. It’s hard to let go that right in the first episode, first second you can see Gerald, the Witcher jumping like flying while you can be sure he’s in a studio connected to a rope in front of a green screen and as he struggles with the monster you can see the absolute worst CGI of 2019, in such a big title. His clothes are also more of an amateur comic con version and I'm pretty sure some has a better one, on the actual comic con. A good fantasy doesn’t have a bard singing Robbie Williams/bar style songs in the local pub and it requires tons more of careful touch to make it feel realistic and rich in it’s world. That includes well-chosen real locations, scenery, good lines of characters, so it won’t feel like it’s the 9 trillionths random cheap Netflix show.… Expand
  69. Mongio
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    Per quanto ho visto fino ad ora (3 puntate), siamo messi malino.... attore improbabile, cast imbarazzante, linea narrativa non chiarissima se non si hanno letto i romanzi, scenografie povere con una fotografia da studio fotografico di borgata, musiche quasi mai all'altezza sino al punto più basso che mi è capitato di vedere, o meglio sentire.... la traduzione italiana dei berci diPer quanto ho visto fino ad ora (3 puntate), siamo messi malino.... attore improbabile, cast imbarazzante, linea narrativa non chiarissima se non si hanno letto i romanzi, scenografie povere con una fotografia da studio fotografico di borgata, musiche quasi mai all'altezza sino al punto più basso che mi è capitato di vedere, o meglio sentire.... la traduzione italiana dei berci di Ranuncolo.... Finiro sicuramente la visione della serie, ma temo faticherà molto a risollevarsi... Un fan letterario e videoludico profondamente deluso.... ma trattandosi di netflix, mi ero preparato emotivamente...… Expand
  70. DenysVerizhenko
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    Игра актеров ужасная, сюжет скомканный и плохо изложен, слишком много ненужного насилия в сериале с постановкой уровня детей 6 лет. Полный провал. Все что сделал этот сериал - это удовлетворил лгбт движение. Показывать негров в Польше 13 века это моветон.Игра актеров ужасная, сюжет скомканный и плохо изложен, слишком много ненужного насилия в сериале с постановкой уровня детей 6 лет. Полный провал. Все что сделал этот сериал - это удовлетворил лгбт движение. Показывать негров в Польше 13 века это моветон.
  71. Dantalian
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Я не являюсь фанатом саги о Ведьмаке , я не играл в игры , и не читал полностью книгу , поэтому я могу судить не предвзято .Мне нету дела до цвета кожи , откуда они , какой у них пол и предпочтения в любовном плане.
    Но я ненавижу когда актёры не гармонично смотрятся.
    Геральд, Енифер , Трисс . Одни из главных персонажей этой саги . и к каждому я хочу предаться 1. Геральд - Когда я его    Я не являюсь фанатом саги о Ведьмаке , я не играл в игры , и не читал полностью книгу , поэтому я могу судить не предвзято .Мне нету дела до цвета кожи , откуда они , какой у них пол и предпочтения в любовном плане.
    Но я ненавижу когда актёры не гармонично смотрятся.
    Геральд, Енифер , Трисс . Одни из главных персонажей этой саги . и к каждому я хочу предаться
    1. Геральд - Когда я его вижу , я вижу не Ведьмака , а Геркулеса который подсел на дешевые стероиды , от которых он меняет цвет глаз и у него галлюцинации по ночам .
    Енифер - Хоть горбатая , хоть измененная ,даже под тонной косметики , она выглядит как серая мышка , и прямая походка и косметика этого не меняет , что есть , то есть
    Трисс - Я честно не понимаю чего хотели от данного персонажа на выборе актёра. Но давайте по их словам как они говорили , мы будем двигаться по книге . Так вот Описание Трисс.
    В книге «Кровь эльфов» упоминается, что у неё были роскошные волосы цвета «октябрьского каштана», её гордость и «опознавательный знак», тонкая талия и проницательный взгляд голубых глаз.«Две из них были в платьях, очень скромно застегнутых под горлышко, —- суровая, одетая в чёрное Шеала де Танкарвилль и молоденькая Трисс Меригольд с голубыми глазами и изумительно красивыми каштаново-рыжими волосами»«Весёлая Трисс Меригольд с каштановыми волосами, хохочущая по любому поводу, выглядевшая как девчонка. (Что говорит нам о девушке с прекрасным красивым телосложением , которая выглядит как "девочка" что никак нельзя сказать о сериальной деве , очень противоречивой внешности , который с виду , уже около 40.
    Я могу похвалить за красивую картинку , не плохих монстров , реплики , не плохи , хоть я и хочу больше фентези .    … Expand
  72. JackProctor
    Dec 25, 2019
    3
    This show just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes it has magic which isn’t supposed to make sense but the storyline is just so choppy. The fight scenes look good but are just so far fetched. When the Witcher slays roughly 10 men in the queens court at the end of the fight there are suddenly no bodies on the floor and no injuries. God and the Witcher’s low raspy voice sounds so forced youThis show just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Yes it has magic which isn’t supposed to make sense but the storyline is just so choppy. The fight scenes look good but are just so far fetched. When the Witcher slays roughly 10 men in the queens court at the end of the fight there are suddenly no bodies on the floor and no injuries. God and the Witcher’s low raspy voice sounds so forced you don’t get any emotion from his character. The characters fall in and out of love with each other in an instant. It’s just garbled story telling. I’m a fairly intelligent person, and by episode 8 I honestly don’t know what’s going on. The Witcher is trying to find the princes to fulfill a prophecy...? With tons of side missions and a musical idiot following him around and signing?… Expand
  73. DarthShel
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    Dull characters, too much colored characters who totally ruin the spirit of that world, where all blacks are from Zerrikania or Ofir. Plus the battles suck so much compared to GoT. This 40 vs 40 ugly wired soldiers fight is literally crap. Just compare it to lower-budget Battle of Bastards. Geralt is awesome. But rest of the cast feels weird and non-canon both compared to the books andDull characters, too much colored characters who totally ruin the spirit of that world, where all blacks are from Zerrikania or Ofir. Plus the battles suck so much compared to GoT. This 40 vs 40 ugly wired soldiers fight is literally crap. Just compare it to lower-budget Battle of Bastards. Geralt is awesome. But rest of the cast feels weird and non-canon both compared to the books and games. Dialogues ain’t complicated at all. I can’t understand why creators keep comparing their show to Game of Thrones when Witcher seems to be so much worse. And even the story. In GoT you understand very quickly who is who and what was their past. And in the very end of ep.1 they made you want to watch more by a very cool plot twist. And this just doesn’t happen to be in the Witcher… Expand
  74. neverrr
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    SJW & Feminists **** has nothing to do with the witcher at all. Made to make all the minorities happy, but not the actual lore fans. Please be aware when you watch it, contains a total miscast of 90% of the characters.
  75. chaki1ban
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    Унылый сериал, ГГ не вписывается в параметры. Есть инфа что челики засыпают на 1-2й серии.
  76. Belatarr
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    Appalling. Cavill sounds like Batman, CGI is so bad, dialogues cringy and forced. What a waste...
  77. Sayros
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    I did not expect a miracle, but still it’s bad.

    Henry does a pretty good job, but the rest aren't very good at elves.
    I don’t even want to discuss the plot
  78. Schabomir
    Dec 20, 2019
    3
    The show is inferior in every way possible to the books and games and plays out like a bad fan-fiction
    It looks like cheap Game of Thrones wanabe.
  79. Elorien
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Какая же дикая, лютейшая хрень. 3 балла чисто из-за Цири, остальных на мороз ссаными тряпками нужно выкидывать.
  80. Akinori
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Black elves? Alright, why not. Ugly Triss? Well tastes are arguable (check Triss in the game and compare). But I understood why I've got this feeling of disgusting, the TV Show was made as those modern girl's novels like Twilight, Divergent, Maze runner, Hunger games and so on. The script and play have no sense, it filled with stupidness like when Ciri rescued, why all other havent thereBlack elves? Alright, why not. Ugly Triss? Well tastes are arguable (check Triss in the game and compare). But I understood why I've got this feeling of disgusting, the TV Show was made as those modern girl's novels like Twilight, Divergent, Maze runner, Hunger games and so on. The script and play have no sense, it filled with stupidness like when Ciri rescued, why all other havent there was a hidden path, it may be used by anyone, but no they overdramatically stuck knife into their throat. Dialogues made very poor and so smug. They do so many events in one time so they have to do a lot of cutoffs, like for example the fight with Falka, who without knowledge of the book will understand the motivation of Geralt to kill her, she didnt kill anyone in tv show, where are the reasons of characters' actions? Also the way creators make us hate 'evil' characters is very teenager-ish. On the moment when they showed Yennifer's womb I was started to laugh, creators think the viewers are so stupid that they will not understand what she paid for the beauty so they decided to show us bloody womb. I can enlist minuses of this show for hours. I saw 4 episodes and this is enough. No more Witcher TV Show for me thank you. I'd better go play the game again with reasoning, good dialogues, wonderful script and pretty women… Expand
  81. sariustorys
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Nędzota, festiwal poprawności politycznej. Czarne driady, murzyni rycerze i czarne elfy w strefie klimatu umiarkowanego tworzą niewiarygodny świat. Wisienką na torcie jest olewcze podejście do fabuły książek i kiepskie efekty specjalne. Jedyne plusy: sceny walk i role henrego cavilla i Jaskra
  82. ValentinOzhi
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    И тааак, Ведьмак.
    Меня хватило на две серии и честно мне стыдно за Нетфликс. Начну с плюсов этого «сериала» так как их меньше чем минусов.
    Это озвучка актеров, она действительно классная и было приятно слушать персонажей если бы они не разговаривали друг с другом, потому что диалоги сосут огромный, невероятный, термоядерный... сенджигрон (я играл в Ведьмака и только я это пойму). Ну и еще    И тааак, Ведьмак.
    Меня хватило на две серии и честно мне стыдно за Нетфликс. Начну с плюсов этого «сериала» так как их меньше чем минусов.
    Это озвучка актеров, она действительно классная и было приятно слушать персонажей если бы они не разговаривали друг с другом, потому что диалоги сосут огромный, невероятный, термоядерный... сенджигрон (я играл в Ведьмака и только я это пойму). Ну и еще мне понравился персонаж Лютик - бард, его очень хорошо там показали. Ну и все, все остальное сплошные минусы. Даже я, настоящий фанат ведьмака, который перечитал все книги, прошел игры, в самом начале нихрена не понял. Я боюсь представить что случится с человеком который даже игру не прошел, не считая книг. Актеры подобраны ужасно, Йеннифер - чародейка, в книге ей 180 лет, но как говорилось в книге выглядит она на 30-40. Здесь Йеннифер выглядит на 14... Сам ведьмак Геральт, ну это пиздес, не многословный, понтовщик, и ваще ховно. Еще меня пробомбило с сюжета, они хотели сделать по книге, но вышло так будто они книгу читали задом наперёд или по диагонали, ну или я хз. Короче пиздес и ничего больше. Если вы не хотите читать книгу про ведьмака то в принципе с закрытыми глазами и закрытыми ушами можно смотреть. Ставлю 3 из 10. Очень пробомбило    … Expand
  83. Ferzenand
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    The flaws of the first episode:
    1. The fight with kikimora was in the middle of nowhere. Instead of the usual swamp area, they decided to use some vomit graphics from the late 90s.
    2. The role of Renfrey completely failed. Instead of a person with a difficult fate and nature, we’ve got an offended “next door girl”. 3. The Witcher’s atmosphere has been **** up. We’ve like it in video    The flaws of the first episode:
    1. The fight with kikimora was in the middle of nowhere. Instead of the usual swamp area, they decided to use some vomit graphics from the late 90s.
    2. The role of Renfrey completely failed. Instead of a person with a difficult fate and nature, we’ve got an offended “next door girl”.
    3. The Witcher’s atmosphere has been **** up. We’ve like it in video games. But we haven't seen any of it on the screen. Btw, blacks in the world of slavic fantasy look as foolish as penguins in the midle of savannah.
    5. Designer responsible for the nilf armor should be kicked out of the profession. And Lauren Schmidt should take less vine and pay more attention to organization of the filming process.
    6. Battle scene - main nominee for the award "Shame of the year".
    7. Soundtracks of the series in quality lose to tracks from free libraries.
    8. The motivation of characters is not disclosed. Actually, nobody tries.    … Expand
  84. BenjiButton
    Dec 21, 2019
    3
    Casting is bad with a few exceptions. (Did a hit job on the Elder Races/Dryads) The pacing of the story is jarring and the story itself lacks gravitas, at times manages to be corny (Yenn swinging sword like a pro, mid fight peck with Geralt) Had they adopted a slower, more impactful approach, (Show us Geralt on a methodical hunt episode 1, not in an underwater rumble and cut scene) then weCasting is bad with a few exceptions. (Did a hit job on the Elder Races/Dryads) The pacing of the story is jarring and the story itself lacks gravitas, at times manages to be corny (Yenn swinging sword like a pro, mid fight peck with Geralt) Had they adopted a slower, more impactful approach, (Show us Geralt on a methodical hunt episode 1, not in an underwater rumble and cut scene) then we might have actually cared a little for the characters.

    Wanted this to be good/great but has fallen on its face, which is disappointing considering the material they’ve had to work with.    … Expand
  85. ReevJax
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    I did not hate the story, what I did hate was how everything has to be "diverse" at all costs. I guess we are lucky they didn't make Geralt gay .
  86. garnerc07
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    While I enjoyed the performances of Geralt and Ciri, there were some others who sort of ruined it for me. Yennefer and Triss' casting was not good at all in my opinion. Tried being an interesting character in the books and games came across as nothing but unimportant and a throw away character. Fringilla Vigo was also another character who I quite enjoyed from the books and movies butWhile I enjoyed the performances of Geralt and Ciri, there were some others who sort of ruined it for me. Yennefer and Triss' casting was not good at all in my opinion. Tried being an interesting character in the books and games came across as nothing but unimportant and a throw away character. Fringilla Vigo was also another character who I quite enjoyed from the books and movies but together with a bad choice of casting and a complete personality change, she also didn't stand out either. This as you might know comes down to the politics of the creators of the series. Back from when they put the casting call for Ciri for BAME actresses, i knew this would be a let down, and i was mostly right. I love the Witcher franchise so it's a shame for its legacy to be tainted with people trying to push their politics onto the fans of the series. They just had to follow the source material and the fans would love it, so it's a shame it is getting such a mixed reception. Let this show and the many others who have suffered the same fate be a lesson to those who think they can smear a well loved franchise to push a political agenda.… Expand
  87. WildFireR2
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    I can only assume that people giving it a 10 have never actually read the books or played the games.

    Simply put here are some reasons to avoid watching this embarrassment of a show: - Really weak & cringe worthy dialogue - The Showrunner clearly cares more about diversity than being true to the source material - The best scenes are with Geralt in fight scenes, which you'll barely    I can only assume that people giving it a 10 have never actually read the books or played the games.

    Simply put here are some reasons to avoid watching this embarrassment of a show:

    - Really weak & cringe worthy dialogue
    - The Showrunner clearly cares more about diversity than being true to the source material
    - The best scenes are with Geralt in fight scenes, which you'll barely see anyway because this show is 75% about the women and their stories.

    This is just another example of a great story being **** ruined by a moron in Lauren Hissrich.

    It's WAY too much emphasis on the female characters... The Witcher is unique in that it's writing in the source material is SO GOOD that you already have established powerful female characters that aren't obnoxiously over the top and in your face.

    But of course, its 2019 so that's not enough, they have to make every little moment about how women are stronger, can overcome anything, and are inherently better than all men apparently.

    They've basically butchered Yen... & that leads me to another point.... Casting:

    - Black Fringilla
    - Black Eithne & Brokilon forest women are black
    - Mixed race Triss
    - half Indian Yen

    Are you taking the piss? ALL of these characters are supposed to be **** white, clearly listed as "PALE" in the source material.

    But it's 2019, and you're not allowed too many white people in the same room otherwise it's racist apparently... The casting choices for this are an absolute disgrace & are just so immersion breaking it's ridiculous.

    I feel bad for Henry Cavil, he is literally carrying this whole show on his shoulders & clearly is the only person that gives a **** about his character or the story.    … Expand
  88. wizards
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    It's poor distorted copy universe Witcher. For the efforts made, I will add three points. Rating 3.
  89. bosgon
    Dec 22, 2019
    3
    1 балл за Лютика и 1 за Цири. Битва Геральта в первой серии очень хорошо поставлена, что нельзя сказать про остальные (типичная голливудщина с отбрасыванием в стены). Картинка оставляет желать лучшего. Йеннифер сыграла не плохо, хоть и не подходит на эту роль, про Геральта тоже самое. Трисс - женщина лет 45, это просто пи......ец, такое чувство что актрису выбрали в последний день на1 балл за Лютика и 1 за Цири. Битва Геральта в первой серии очень хорошо поставлена, что нельзя сказать про остальные (типичная голливудщина с отбрасыванием в стены). Картинка оставляет желать лучшего. Йеннифер сыграла не плохо, хоть и не подходит на эту роль, про Геральта тоже самое. Трисс - женщина лет 45, это просто пи......ец, такое чувство что актрису выбрали в последний день на от...ись. Вообщем сериал не вызывает гнева или радости, он просто никакой.… Expand
  90. Penisman
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    Henry Cavil turned out as amazing geralt and his interactions with Jaskier are on point. Those are, alongside good fights scenes, the only good things I can say about this mess. Yennefer turned out terrible. Instead of a confident stubborn female lead she feel weak and confused. The way magic is portrayed is a joke. Politics are confusing and not engaging at all. The story between threeHenry Cavil turned out as amazing geralt and his interactions with Jaskier are on point. Those are, alongside good fights scenes, the only good things I can say about this mess. Yennefer turned out terrible. Instead of a confident stubborn female lead she feel weak and confused. The way magic is portrayed is a joke. Politics are confusing and not engaging at all. The story between three people, with three timelines that are an immense mess and viewer can't rightly tell when did what happen untill later half of the series. CGI looks clearly like CGI, Villentrenthemerth is awful. Directing was another problem. Some scenes completely lack build up, others are just awkward (like geralts famous speech about greater/lesser evil). Even the Geralt/Jaskier interactions that I have mentioned are few and far between, especially when compared to books.… Expand
  91. tehJo
    Dec 18, 2021
    3
    Yet another atrocity. They really loosely used books. Changing the meaning of stories, added more and more. The script is really bad, dialogs are horrible, characters are butchered. Season one was really bad and due to changes made to the story, they are going deeper and deeper into the world of terrible confusion and at the same time feeding us horrible experiences. Dialogs are writtenYet another atrocity. They really loosely used books. Changing the meaning of stories, added more and more. The script is really bad, dialogs are horrible, characters are butchered. Season one was really bad and due to changes made to the story, they are going deeper and deeper into the world of terrible confusion and at the same time feeding us horrible experiences. Dialogs are written once in the tones of fantasy and in other times modern talk. The political correctness that changed the plot and characters in season one now just makes it unwatchable. The story of Ciri was a story of a child and clearly here she is a woman. I do not see redemption for this series. I like Henry but he should know better not to be part of this atrocity.… Expand
  92. wagabunga93
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    The series is tragic and has little to do with books, many characters and stories have been cut out for new unnecessary threads. Black-skinned elves, kransoludy without beard, magic like Harry Potter - many wrong decisions were made, the series became another tube for liberal activists and the potential of books was wasted by them. Don't watch the show first! Read the books, they are muchThe series is tragic and has little to do with books, many characters and stories have been cut out for new unnecessary threads. Black-skinned elves, kransoludy without beard, magic like Harry Potter - many wrong decisions were made, the series became another tube for liberal activists and the potential of books was wasted by them. Don't watch the show first! Read the books, they are much better than Netflix. The Netflix series is tragic and has little to do with the book Witcher. If you don't like reading, at least play the game... Although you will miss a lot of great stories, your loss. Make no mistake - don't judge a book by show.

    PS. Henry Cavill is a great actor and even better Witcher (you can see that he understands his character), but all the rest (not counting sword fights) is not an agreement, people created the script and realized the series created something that has nothing to do with the great story written by Andrzej Sapkowski. Please, no - I'm begging you - reach for the books!    … Expand
  93. veilen
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    Everything except the visuals and, probably, music is just not good enough for the source material potential. Poor acting and screenplay
  94. MScofield33
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    Série bem fraca , não estou aguentando assistir. As partes de "comédia" com o Jasker são muito irritantes. As trilhas sonoras deixam a desejar. Gerald mal usa magia, só aard de vez em quando. A série não é envolvente.
  95. Evilpoo
    Dec 23, 2019
    3
    GOD Awful.. seriously? People like this? How can someone be SO disgustingly biased. Can't you see the 'netflix' horrific casting? horrific actors? horrific story, effects..

    BELLOW ZERO
    I turned it off (mid Djinn episode) and never watching again , except maybe if i wana browse my phone while this crap is playing.
  96. StephanL
    Dec 27, 2019
    3
    Perhaps this show is drawing in people who love soap opera's posing as fantasy and thus the discrepancy between viewers comments and critics. I love fantasy, and good storytelling. This is poorly made. Henry Cavill is great but miscast here. Sets too clean and boring. My disbelief was not suspended. Racial inclusiveness is important but at the cost of good storytelling? Poor choice in showrunn
  97. Frek
    Jan 12, 2020
    2
    My background knowledge going into this was that i played the first chapter of Witcher 3. I didn't make it through episode 5 when I lost all interest. My 3 biggest complaints:
    - Why is this called "The Witcher"? Clearly the main character is Yennifer.
    - What is going on? One minute queen lady is dead, the next shes talking to the Witcher. - Unpopular opinion: Most of the sexualized    My background knowledge going into this was that i played the first chapter of Witcher 3. I didn't make it through episode 5 when I lost all interest. My 3 biggest complaints:
    - Why is this called "The Witcher"? Clearly the main character is Yennifer.
    - What is going on? One minute queen lady is dead, the next shes talking to the Witcher.
    - Unpopular opinion: Most of the sexualized content was just there for the sake of "hey we have boobies in our show and it makes us edgy and cool".

    What I did like:
    - the combat scene in episode 1, there should be more of that
    - the character development of Yennifer, (I have no idea why the Witcher didn't get the same treatment from the get go)
    - I like the epic setting but this clearly is not made for people that aren't experts in the lore.    … Expand
  98. jautja
    Dec 20, 2021
    2
    Просто отвратительно. На оригинал плевать, декорации - крашеный картон, доспехи ведьмака убожество (нильфгардские доспехи из первого сезона курят), эльфы - люди бомжи, все смешано в одну кучу, цири стала БОТЕКСНОЙ дурой, Весемир тупой и т.д.

    It's just disgusting. Don't care about the original, the decorations are painted cardboard, the witcher's armor is squalor (Nilfgard armor from the    Просто отвратительно. На оригинал плевать, декорации - крашеный картон, доспехи ведьмака убожество (нильфгардские доспехи из первого сезона курят), эльфы - люди бомжи, все смешано в одну кучу, цири стала БОТЕКСНОЙ дурой, Весемир тупой и т.д.

    It's just disgusting. Don't care about the original, the decorations are painted cardboard, the witcher's armor is squalor (Nilfgard armor from the first season is smoking), the elves are homeless people, everything is mixed in one heap, ciri has become a BOTEX fool, Vesemir is stupid, etc.    … Expand
  99. jonnypc
    Dec 20, 2019
    2
    i honestly started with a clear mind,but it was clear from the first two episodes that everything good in the books was thrown out of the window,the casting is horrible apart from henry cavill,the effects used are quite poor and overall the series feels cheap.
  100. moothemagiccow
    Dec 21, 2019
    2
    If you want to listen to someone talk about sending fifty ships from Bryvidia with zero context, this is the show for you.
Page:

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed TV Season of 2019
77
#77 Most Shared TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 17
  3. Negative: 3 out of 17
  1. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Nick Hilton
    Jan 3, 2020
    40
    The Witcher is a messy tangle of plotlines in a world underdeveloped to the point of obscurity.
    Read full review
  2. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Jan 3, 2020
    60
    As a mindless fantasy rollercoaster, Geralt’s journey is five stars all the way to tea-time. Sadly, for those who like brains with their brawn, it may be more of a slog.
    Read full review
  3. Time
    Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Dec 20, 2019
    30
    It takes a while for viewers to learn how these characters are connected, via an exasperating Westworld-esque narrative knot that takes much of the season to unfurl. ... The Witcher heightens our confusion by fumbling details that would have helped it set a cohesive tone. Dialogue vacillates, from line to line, between theatrical fantasy-speak and modern colloquialisms (“Dragons are, in fact, a thing!”).
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »