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TV series pointI managed to watch some television over the last few weeks. Namely, The Mandalorian and The Witcher.
A few thoughts on both:
The Mandalorian:
I'm not going to get into my thoughts on the latest Star Wars movies in this post. However, I will say that The Mandalorian was more enjoyable to me than all three of them.
You could think of it as a western gunslinger serial set in space. Like the original Star Wars trilogy it doesn't take itself too seriously, and is a joy to watch. It manages to capture the atmosphere and feel of the older movies, feels like a fun adventure without the expectations and baggage of the latest mainline films. The episodes weight in at about 30 to 40 minutes each, which works great for episodic content like this.
The Witcher:
I am a fan of The Witcher universe. I read the first two novels and have played bits of the first two games (currently working on the third).
Expectations were low when I heard it was to be a Netflix series, as
the "Netflix Adaptation" meme was earned for a reason. But after watching the whole series, I am relieved that it turned out reasonably well. Henry Cavil plays a convincing Geralt, and Joey Batey is perfect as Jaskier. The interactions between their characters are some of my favorite parts.
My only complaints so far would be that some parts do feel lower budget. There are some parts in the books that I expected to be a huge event, but were less exciting in the show than I envisioned. For example, there is a large storm of magical origin in one episode. In the books, it threatens to engulf the whole town, but the TV series just shows one house. I am hoping that the popularity of the show will lead to a larger budget for season 2. The other thing is that the story lines for Geralt and Yennifer are actually happening in the past, while Ciri's is in the present. The season ends with all three combining. I figured this out right away, but those who know nothing of the source material might be confused.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the series to fantasy fans, and fans of the The Witcher universe. Those who are neither fan of fantasy or monster slayers may still find it entertaining as long as they A) Remember the character's stories are at different times and B) Don't compare it to big budget series like that one HBO show. While this series features sex, nudity, and violence, it lacks the darker cinematic feel of that other fantasy show. Instead, it more resembles a lighter adventure series with the entire first season introducing characters, and world building.
