The Witcher season 1

Netflix's TV adaptation of the popular novel series The Witcher was something I was keen to watch even though I knew very little about it and had never played the acclaimed video game adaptation but having finally seen it, it has taken me some time to get to this point and evaluate my thoughts. While not a hardcore fan of fantasy shows, with Game of Thrones being the exception, I went into the show with an open mind and came away not entirely sure if I was satisfied with the result.

In this fantasy land of elves, mages and the rest you might imagine, there is a race of people known as Witchers who hunt beasts and keep the land the safe but their numbers are falling while the world around them is getting ready for war. Henry Cavill dons the white hair and yellow eyes of Geralt, a Witcher caught amongst the politics of man and who must reluctantly follow his noble duty to.. err do good things I guess?

The show also takes a video game like format to its story and in doing so makes the story hard to explain as we essentially see the world through Geralt's eyes as he comes across various challenges and conundrums. There are two other storylines with one to do with a young princess running from war, and also a crippled servant training to become a mage but neither were quite as engaging as the plot do with its main protagonist.

Fans of high fantasy will surely get a kick out of this and once the various pieces of the story came together, following a truly ludicrous lack of explanation that there are several ongoing timelines (that's not even a spoiler, just useful to know going in), The Witcher became an enjoyable show to follow. Some of the visuals, such as a fight between Geralt and this possessed lady, were great but then some parts just felt like a cheap show from the Syfy channel when it moved away from its leading star as we endure clunky dialogue and a few bizarre moments I'll reframe from spoiling. Maybe just think of Star Trek on a bad day and you'll get the idea as there are a number of eyebrow raising cheesy moments.

Henry Cavill still gives the show his all and its with his scenes where The Witcher displays its true potential. Cavill has clearly put in a lot of time in the gym to the look the part and his performance as the weary lead makes everything else pale in comparison. I just hope season two makes up for a lot of the inconsistencies found here and Netflix are able to provide a more satisfying experience which I could then more easily recommend. Nonetheless, if you like the books and/or the games then watching this eight episode season should be an easy decision as it still offers plenty of entertainment even if it is a little rough around the edges.