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A famous “Witcher” saga, telling the story of Geralt of Rivia is a cult classic. The book series, which brought massive success to the Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski led to the creation of the video game franchise, which consists of three parts. The final one called “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” is the most popular part of the series and without a doubt one of the best games of all time with its plot, energy, graphics, and open world.
The game franchise in its part became a driver for the TV series, distributed by Netflix. It was a huge success and fans really liked the adaptation of a famous video game. The first season was released in December of 2019, after which the second season was immediately announced. It is expected to air in 2021, however, the recent events surrounding the coronavirus notably hampered the shooting. It is likely to be delayed and if we remember the ending of the first season, fans were left with a huge cliffhanger.
A wide acclaim…in Norway
Besides the United States, “The Witcher” TV series received major acclaim in various European countries. It may seem a little bit surprising, but the viewers from Norway were actually extremely delighted with the TV show. Prior to the release, Norwegians played “Witcher” a lot, and basically they became targeted by unauthorized sites offering them “Witcher” games.
The admiration of the “Witcher” games and TV series resulted in gambling industries in Norway to think about a brilliant marketing idea. In general, it is a general fact that casinos always try to introduce elements of video games and prominent figures in their products to attract more customers. Ule Svensson representative from Casinopånett.eu, most recently, declared that people are now going to their website expecting special offers on “Witcher” games. Seems amazing right? And the number of Witcher-lovers increases all the time.
A general overview of the Witcher series
The first season of the series received eight episodes, each of which lasts an hour. This is not a type of TV show, where sometimes an episode lasts less than half an hour. Viewers familiar with the original books will find many beloved stories: the scriptwriters of the show treat the original source quite carefully, although there are a couple of “remodels”. They will probably be visible only to fans of books. In the series, it was decided to pay much more attention to the past Yennefer: under this given as many as three series. But not to say that this story arch shone with dynamics and captivating.
The plot of the series is centered around three persons: Geralt himself, the sorceress Yennefer, and Princess Ciri. The first hunts monsters and gets into trouble, the second learns magic and tries to correct one of his mistakes, the third escapes from the war and tries to find Geralt. At the same time, the narrative is non-linear, the scriptwriters flirt over time, interrupt the serial present with stories from the heroes’ past, and load names and place names that require thorough attention to remember. Therefore, it will not be easy for newcomers to the Witcher universe to keep track of everything, to catch all the connections.
Speaking about the cast, first of all, we admit: Henry Cavill got along pretty well in the role of “The Witcher,” and after a couple of dozen minutes you get used to it, it looks very organic in it. Fans of the game will be pleased because Geralt sounds as much as possible in his game embodiment – that in the original voice acting.
Returning to Cavill, we note that, surprisingly, he does not look like a pumped-up bull in witch’s armor. Sometimes he tries to play with his face some strange emotions that do not always correspond to what is happening in the scene. The directors, apparently, did not find the courage to instruct the highly paid actor, but some scenes should still be re-shot.
But the Witcher has strengths: they are Henry Cavill, who asked for the lead role with yellow lenses, and Anya Chalotra, who plays Yennefer, with violets. Many were worried that the Briton, who until recently had portrayed Superman in DC films, would be unsuitable and young for the gloomy white-haired ronin, but in a paradoxical way, the suit sits on him like a glove. Cavill rarely shaves, frowns all the way, and pounds jerky punchy in a low voice (talkativeness rolls only in the presence of Jennifer). Not that there was a place to roam, but getting into the image definitely happened – and as a result, this is one of the best works in his filmography. As for Chalotra, she, firstly, extremely convincingly grows up and turns from a slaughtered girl with a hump into a wayward woman going ahead to her own goal, and secondly, she screams and pushes very picturesquely when it comes to the final battle.
In general, “Witcher” is an excellent adaptation of the video game franchise, and successive seasons will definitely prove to be even better.
