‘The Witcher‘ is a new Netflix show that fans have been lauding as the new ‘Game of Thrones‘. The show dropped on December 20th, and it is already one of the most popular series debuted by Netflix this year, and it has replaced ‘The Mandalorian’ as the most in-demand show in the world. After a downswing for Netflix in the wake of Disney+, it’s just what Netflix needs.
While fans seem to love it, critics have mixed reviews. Some have called it a violent delight, while others have said it doesn’t live up to the precedent that Game of Thrones has set for fantasy television.
The show is based on a series of novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. A series of very successful and well-recieved video games are also based on the original novels.
‘The Witcher‘ follows Geralt of Rivia, played by Henry Cavill, a brooding, monster hunting ‘witcher’ who becomes embroiled in some royal drama. Cavill captures the essence of the character well, but the series is not without flaws.
Like ‘Game of Thrones‘, ‘The Witcher‘ has a large cast of characters with confusing names. The pacing is a little slow, and it fails to capture enthrall in the same way other fantasy shows have.
How people compare it to incredible hits like ‘The Mandalorian‘ and ‘Game of Thrones‘ is beyond me, but the streaming numbers don’t lie.
Despite a 56% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘The Witcher‘ boasts a 93% audience score. After reports that Netflix lost over a million subscribers to Disney+, an audience hit is what the streaming service needs. It seems that despite the questionable reviews, ‘The Witcher’ is here to stay.
