The Witcher - Série 2

A little better than the first season. Though the second season starts great, especially for those who don’t know the source material – it's more accessible, more cinematic, simpler. At the same time, it's appropriately dark and epic, with a hero who continues in cool mode on the edge of good guy and ruthless killer – though he's a little closer to the former. Unfortunately, the second half turns from an adventure ride into a political and conspiratorial maelstrom, with each of the several parties pulling their own strings and having their own agenda. And unfortunately, without the skill of the creators of Game of Thrones, so it's boring as hell. The finale is just satisfactory, not great. (15/01/2022)

A lot weaker than the first season. The first episode is great, but then it all starts going downhill. Political intrigue, sudden changes of direction, some unimportant people discussing the war and I fell asleep. Geralt and Ciri are super. Well-acted characters. The rest are a bit boring, as a rule. The dialogs are very stiff, dumbly pointing out things that would have been obvious with a better screenplay. The action is fine, but there is too little of it. The production design is great and the monsters intriguing. I am reading the book and it seems the creators aren’t being faithful to it; maybe next season. Just look at what happened to Game of Thrones when the creators began improvising. (22/12/2021)

In the end, it managed to scrape by with four stars, but compared to the first season, it represents a noticeable drop in quality. Don’t get me wrong, the characters still shine, and the storyline revolving around Geralt and Ciri is rock-solid, with everyone else in this aspect holding up well. I was just disappointed with the script this time. We were promised a feast of all kinds of monsters. My expectations shot through the roof because of that, but unfortunately, they didn’t deliver. The bruxa Vereena from the first season was unmatched; everything else felt incredibly rushed (leshen, blackthorn, basilisk), and the creators didn’t give them much screen time, with Geralt dealing with them far too easily. Visually, I have a few complaints too. Some things looked really good (Nivellen and Vereena), while others I’d rather not mention (the basilisk at the end was quite laughable, with terrible CGI). It’s still above-average fantasy with my favorite characters from the book and game series, but I hope Lauren Schmidt, the series’ showrunner, reflects on it. She has some work to do. For me, it’s 7/10. P.S. The soundtrack from the original series had a much greater emotional impact on the viewer. At least Joey Bates composed songs with a bit of flair :D (23/12/2021)

After the first season, I was a bit hesitant, but I held onto hope. Now, after the second season, that hope has vanished. It's similar to what happened to Game of Thrones, just a bit earlier on. I get it, the script can't always perfectly match the source material, but in this case, it feels like only the name remains from the original. It baffles me why some filmmakers think they can cover up script and casting flaws with a massive CGI spectacle. Instead, we're left with more and more side storylines that often lead to dead ends. Meanwhile, digital creatures roam around, looking like they've wandered in from Evolution (2001). Then there are the new questions. Why is Geralt called the White Wolf when his hair color reminds me more of Gandalf pre-Balrog encounter? Did the series creators use the Nilfgaardian invasion to divert attention from the Afro-Indian hordes infiltrating Slavic fantasy? Who knows. Undoubtedly, the upcoming seasons of this "masterpiece" will have some explaining to do. To put it in aviation terms, this series is in a descending spiral, and if this keeps up, it's heading into a tailspin. 2*- (31/01/2022)

The initial excitement from The Witcher’s first season has quietly fizzled out. Maybe it’s the two-year wait, which felt unnecessarily long, but I’m more inclined to blame the writers. Most of the time, I wasn’t sure what this season was even about. And when I finally figured it out, it honestly felt a bit underwhelming. At least Jaskier showed up and didn’t disappoint. Plus, I’ve got to give credit where it’s due — Ciri was a standout. Her moments were easily the highlight of the season. (19/12/2021)