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Movies & TV

20th Dec 2019

With one sensational fight sequence, The Witcher announces its arrival with blood

Paul Moore

The Witcher

Lads, that sword fight was sensational…

Whenever news was announced that Netflix were adapting Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of books, the immediate comparisons weer made with Game of Thrones.

However, the events in The Witcher do not bear any resemblance to what unfolded in Westeros.

Simply put, Geralt of Rivia arrives, fights monsters, f**ks up any fool that stands in his way, and moves on.

That’s the simplicity of the main narrative strand which revolves around Henry Cavill’s character as the actor basically channels Clint Eastwood’s memorable performance as The Man With No Name.

You pretty much learn everything that you need to know about the main character in The Witcher within the first five minutes. We first meet him in  a swamp, nearly killed by a giant spider monster, beaten and almost drowned. In the next scene, he’s being ridiculed and scorned by the local villagers.

At present, we’ve only seen five episodes but there’s enough here to keep audiences sticking around.

Essentially, there’s three shows going on here, the other two revolve around the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra); and princess Ciri (Freya Allan).

The first five episodes are reluctant to bring the fates of these three characters into close proximity with each other, but when they do, the show starts to build some momentum.

This being said, who needs an intricate and labyrinth plot when the action is this good?

Case in point, Geralt of Rivia earning his nickname as The Butcher of Blaviken as he massacres the armed supporters of Princess Renfri at the end of the first episode.

Peaky Blinders fans will probably have noticed Irish actor Packy Lee on the wrong end of Geralt’s sword.

Bloody, thrilling, and absolutely brutal, The Witcher announced its arrival in style and plenty of viewers agreed.

https://twitter.com/iAlwaysLackTact/status/1208131212654583808

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Topics:

Netflix,TV