That was a solid first episode. I'm willing to admit that they've adapted the material well. I'll watch the rest to see if the series as a whole lives up to what I saw here. But still, it's a promising start. I give it an 8/10.
Things I like:
- Henry Cavill is Geralt of Rivia. He completely nails the character. From the voice (which is very similar to Doug Cockle's), the mannerisms, the dry sardonic humor and of course, the speed and grace with which Geralt can dispatch fools with a sword.
- Emma Appleton as Renfri. She played the part of a fallen princess turned killer well. I liked her chemistry with Cavill which makes their eventual duel at the end all the more tragic.
- Freya Allen was great as Ciri. She nailed the emotional scenes with Jodhi May's Calanthe and captured the image of a young frightened princess out of her depth. Since she's a major part of this season I wonder how she'll portray Ciri's character development as she goes on this journey.
- The performances of the supporting cast were all good. Particularly Jodhi May as Queen Calanthe and Lars Mikkelsen as Stregobor.
- Adapting The Lesser Evil. Among all the Witcher short stories that Andrzej Sapkowski wrote, this was the one that perfectly captures the themes of the series as a whole. It was wise of the showrunners to adapt this for the pilot. It's perfect for introducing new audiences to the world of The Witcher.
- The Slaughter of Cintra. Damn, that was pretty brutal. For a background event that was only mentioned in passing in the books, that was way more horrifying than I could imagine.
- The fight choreography is fantastic. The show makes it clear why witchers are feared and hated by ordinary folk. The scene where Geralt slaughters Renfri's goons leaves no doubt as to why he earned the nickname 'The Butcher of Blaviken,'
- The music was really good. Very similar in style to the 3rd game's soundtrack.
Things I dislike:
- The multi-ethnic Nothern Kingdoms. Alright, let's just get this out of the way. This is really more of a nitpick, but I don't like that they've inserted black people amongst the sea of white Nothern people. This world already has established lands where dark skinned people reside (Zerrikania, Ofeir), why do the Nothern Kingdoms suddenly have an influx of black folks wandering around? I can understand if Nilfgaard had a bunch of residents who were dark skinned, but not the xenophobic and racist North.
- Interspersing Ciri's story with Geralt's. I really don't want the show to focus on Ciri all that much this early on. Let's stay with Geralt for a bit and leave the world changing bits like the Slaughter of Cintra later on.
- Some really dodgy CG backgrounds. The swamp where Geralt fights the kikimora looked bleakly grey and dodgy as hell. As was the battlefield where Cintra fought Nilfgaard.
A couple of stumbles, but otherwise a solid start for the show.
