The Witcher

Ich sage es mal so… Mir hat auch die polnische Serie gefallen, wegen der wir damals in unseren jungen Jahren Woche für Woche bis spät in die Nacht aufblieben, um uns am Morgen darüber unterhalten zu können, was wir gesehen haben und inwieweit sich die Serie von den Büchern unterscheidet. Schon damals haben wir uns über manche Veränderungen, manche Tricks und über Marigold lustig gemacht. Es hat uns aber nicht gestört, weil die Serie einfach unterhaltsam war, eine ausgezeichnete Atmosphäre hatte und weil Geralt unser Held war. Das hier ist eigentlich fast derselbe Fall, nur mit dem Unterschied, dass mir der neue The Witcher mit dem hervorragenden Henry "Mhmmmm!" Cavill noch mehr Spaß gemacht hat. Diese Serie hat einen besseren Marigold, bessere Tricks und wird viel besser erzählt. Die schlaue Überschneidung von drei Zeitlinien halte ich für originell und erfrischend. Es gefiel mir, wenn mich die Serie unauffällig daran erinnerte, wo ich mich gerade befinde. Sapkowskis Bücher habe ich zum letzten Mal ungefähr vor fünfzehn Jahren gelesen. Sie waren aber so ausgezeichnet, dass ich mich bis heute an Vieles erinnere, vor allem an ihre Stimmung. Obwohl sich die Serie vom Slawentum abgewandt hat, ist es Netflix gelungen, diese Stimmung schön zu beleben. Am meisten haben mir wahrscheinlich die Folgen mit der Striege und dem Igel gefallen. Es waren aber alle Folgen gut. Und die wunderschöne Musik! (10.11.2021)

Oh boy… I loved the Polish series too, which back then in high school kept us up late week after week to discuss what we'd seen and how different it was from the books. Even then, we scoffed at some of the changes, the effects, Merigold, but we didn't mind because the show was just fun, it had a great atmosphere and Geralt was our hero. This is actually pretty much the same case, except that the new Witcher with the excellent Henry "Mhmmmm!" Cavill entertained me much more. It has a better Merigold, better effects, and is much better told – the clever interweaving of the three timelines felt original and fresh, and I enjoyed it whenever the series subtly reminded me which timeline I was in. The last time I read Sapkowski's books was fifteen years ago or so, but they were so excellent that I still remember a lot from them, and I especially remember their atmosphere, which Netflix, despite its departure from Slavicism, has managed to revive nicely. I probably liked the Striga and Hedgehog episodes the most, but each had something to it. And the music is beautiful! (27.12.2021)

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