The Witcher Season 4 is pretty much what everyone saw coming from a mile away, a total disaster that nobody really wanted but Netflix forced it on us anyway because they already filmed everything back to back with season 5, so there is no turning back now, even though Im going to complain a bit on this post its not as bad as most people say online. Liam Hemsworth steps in as Geralt and as I was just saying the guy is not terrible at all, but he is also not Henry Cavill, so now you got this weird copy of a copy situation going on that feels lifeless and just kind of there. The show tries to explain the recast with this future character named Nimue, who is telling stories about Geralt and she argues with some old dude about what Geralt looked like, suddenly its Liam instead of Henry, they basically pulled the same move James Gunn did with Peacemaker season 2 where they just swapped actors mid scene and called it a day, not the smoothest transition ever. The real problem is not even Liam taking over the role though, the biggest issue with season 4 is the same damn problem this show has had since day one working on top of the source material and changing things around, Im not the type of guy who loose my head for it as long as its entertaining but that is what the internet has been saying since day one, although the game from my understand add things that were not on the books. After four seasons of people complaining online, nothing has changed at all since they keep treating the books like some rough outline, instead of the actual story that readers and gamers fell in love with years ago, essentially you watch them butcher characters, storylines, relationships, over and over again, with zero improvement whatsoever, you would think they would learn by now.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5180504
- Platform: NETFLIX
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Season 4 splits up Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri for basically the entire season AGAIN!!, so your watching three completely separate shows that barely connect to each other at all that by now has become and old joke that doesnt has effect anymore, this is just me talking about the entertaining side of things without knowing if this is how the books play out, it makes the whole thing feel disjointed and messy. Geralt just wanders around with his new company, fighting random monsters, meeting people who either join his quest or die along the way, most of them you dont really care about because there not given enough time to develop properly. Ciri hangs out with the Rats doing robberies, catching feelings for Mistle, from what I could find out online that whole relationship is suppose to be way more messed up, problematic and uncomfortable than how the show presents it and honestly the hole Rats thing was very cringe AF. Yennefer gets stuck recruiting mages all over the continent to fight Vilgefortz, witch takes forever to actually get interesting because they took the first four episodes for build up that felt more like everyone was lost, its repetitive as hell. Geralts storyline is probably the best part of the season because at least your following the main character doing stuff that kind of matters so they should have nailed this part easily. He meets Regis, who is played by Laurence Fishburne and honestly Regis is one of the few bright spots this season, they use a lot of animated content when it comes to his backstory that I like very much, he went on a violent rampage that got him killed and it took him 50 years to regenerate from being torn apart, its a powerful metaphor for redemption. They make his character more about him wanting peace, witch makes it so odd compared to the classic vampire we get from fantasy stories, this one is a day walker, eats food, control his thirst for blood and help others.
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Yennefers storyline is hands down the worst part of season 4, but at the same time gave me the best battle of the season too. She spends the whole season teleporting around, recruiting mages to form the Lodge of Sorceresses, and fight Vilgefortz, witch sounds cool on paper but the execution is so boring, repetitive and dragged out that you just stop caring after a while. The show makes the lodge seem like this heroic feminist group, fighting for the greater good, when they are manipulative, power hungry witches, who most likely will try to control Ciri for there own purposes, in my opinion nothing has change is just that they all had their asses on fire with Vilgefortz on kill mode, they are villains not heroes. Philippa Eilhart is suppose to be a cold, ruthless villain, one of the main antagonists actually but the show turned her into this sympathetic character who helps Yennefer instead, you can tell nobody in there likes Yennefer. The show turns Yennefer into some generic badass leader, training mages with swords, under the supervision of Lambert and Cohan, witch is not so hard to believe based on the show since they know how close Geralt and Yennefer are so yeah they just want to help although if you based that concept on the book Im over 110% it was very unlikely, why are sorceresses learning sword fighting when they have magic?? thats another point, the amount of inconsistencies along the show, not only mages sword fighting but there were some scenes that make no sense if there isnt magic in between. Theres also this weird witch on a broomstick scene, with a character wearing a pointy hat, black robes, that feels totally out of place, like are we doing classical witch vibes now or what??, its so inconsistent with the rest of the shows visuals. The final battle at Monte Calvo is actualy pretty cool, with all the mages fighting Vilgefortz army, portaling around, throwing fireballs, its decent action but it takes FOUR fkn episodes to get there. Oh and Vilgefortz escapes anyway, the had one job, so the whole thing feels pointless, like what was even the point of all that buildup if he was just gonna run away, Yennefer goes after him alone at the end witch I guess sets up Season 5.
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Ciris storyline with the Rats is super rushed and cringe story I have seen on TV in a long time, I hated every time the rats come on scene aside from them been heavy into drugs and alcohol, it never feels like your average drunk, when they completely botch the Mistle relationship I think they do the drugs thing to stay controversial but from my understanding on the books this is way worst and has a bigger impact on her story but Im not using the books to put up my opinion since Im just an average viewer who have never read the books or play the games just like Geralt as a bad ass fighter. Now Ciri fight scenes they were on point, I think they did an awesome job with Freya Allan, I could see Ciri having a sparing session with Geralt and getting him on trouble more than once. From the start I never like the whole Falka thing, the series makes the Rats seem like this fun group of outlaws, doing Robin Hood type stuff, robbing tax collectors, helping villagers and her relationship with Mistle comes off as cute, romantic, wholesome, instead of deeply problematic, toxic, born from trauma as they clearly didnt want to deal with the uncomfortable aspects of the story, so they just sanitized everything, made it easy for mainstream audiences, but honestly this is a reality as adaptations are for the MAINSTREAM not for the fans, I get it that anyways they did it wrong because Ciri story sux for the most part but this is where I have a problem with people that gives a 2/10 to an episode or the entire series just because its not like the books or the game, everyone has an opinion but lets be realistic this is not a 2/10 Season. Remember how I mention inconsistencies?? well Ciri had a huge one when she caught up a cart going out of the city on foot, they even zoom out latter when she is rushing out on horse mount to save the Rats, the town was like a marathon away, like WTF. All this after she finally decided to escape this hole Robin Hood world she was living in that clearly was not her and now has to go back to reality, they really tone it down there because my understanding is that the Rats in the books abuse her at first. Towards the end of the season Leo Bonhart shows up, kills all the Rats in this brutal fight scene that actually looks pretty good, the choreography, camera work, violence, is all solid, Sharlto Copley does a great job as Bonhart even though his storyline feels like a speedrun. He just shows up, murders everyone in like 2 minutes, captures Ciri, no buildup, no tension, just bam heres Bonhart now he is gone. Ciri tries to fight him but loses easily, gets captured, tied up and this turns in another cliff hanger for season 5, she basically look helpless against someone like Bonhart, who collects Witcher medallions from all the Witchers hes killed, wears them as trophys, now thats a real bad ass mf.
The action scenes this season are honestly pretty dam good, probably the best the show has ever done in terms of fight choreography, special effects, practical stunts, its a noticeable improvement. Geralts fight with the troll during the finale looks fantastic, the creature design is solid, the way Liam moves during the fight and honestly Liam Hemsworth actually handles the action really well, better than I expected, they lean into a more agile, acrobatic fighting style for him compared to Henry Cavils version, witch makes sense because Liam is not this massive tank as Cavill look like. Theres also a cool scene where Geralt and Cahir fight side by side on a bridge, against Nilfgaardian soldiers and it feels like a proper Witcher battle, brutal, bloody, Geralt props Cahir after the fight, witch is a nice moment between them, shows there growing trust, respect for each other. The special effects are hit or miss though, some stuff looks great, like the rusalka in the swamp or that random wraith fight in the elven cemetery, witch look good but just too short. Overall it feels like the series tries to do too much with either not enough budget or even time as they come up with this very short fights and everything ends up feeling inconsistent. The ending is suppose to be what keeps you wanting to watch season 5 with Yennefer going after Vilgefortz alone, Emhyr sending some monster after Geralt that look like a dragon from the noises and the cave it was in, out of nowhere Nimue was chosen to go to Aretuza to study, none of it feels earned, exciting or interesting, its just like someone gave them a check list for a formula for a proper ending, having people kidnap and others with a pending bone to pick up. Critics on RTT are giving this show a 6 out of 10 that is very realistic, but on the other hand the audience online have already checked out and gave it a 2/10. Season 5 is suppose to adapt both Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake two entire fkn books for 8 episodes so its gonna be even more rushed, compressed, messy than this season was, cramming two whole books into one season, at this point they should just end it already, put everyone out of there misery, let the Witcher IP rest for a while. This season gets a 6 out of 10 from me, its not completely unwatchable, has some decent moments but its also not good enough to recommend unless your a die hard fan who needs to see how it ends or just for the entertaining side because if you are like me who have never read the books or play the games you are going to enjoy the series but when you see the recast and how Season 4 doesnt hold to the previous 3 you are going to say well this was not as good.
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