The Witcher IP already got a lot more popular when The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released, but the Netflix show really skyrocketed the series to more households. The story of Geralt of Rivia and Ciri entered the lives of a lot more people, and naturally we need to capitalize on that success. We’re getting a second season of the show, a next-gen update for The Witcher III and just today we got a new spin-off movie: Nightmare of the Wolf.
Birth of a Witcher
This movie doesn’t follow Geralt of Rivia as the stories usually do, rather it focusses on his mentor: Vesemir. We see his early life, how he became a Witcher and an event that shapes the course of how Witchers have become increasingly rare in the Continent. Vesemir starts out as a poor boy, living with his father and serving a lord but then gets in contact with a Witcher who shows him a life of potential wealth and freedom. The young boy volunteers to go through the mutation process, which is a hard and dangerous process and also barely ever happens. The transformation is gruesome, with a lot of other boys dying.
Raw with style
As you might see, this is an anime-style movie. The animation definitely adds to the experience, since this way they can pull off a lot of monsters, gore and action more easily than they would be able to in live-action. The Witcher series already had a lot of gore, but I have to say the anime-style of fighting and the interpretation of all the different monsters in this style works incredibly well, and I hope they stick by it longer. The whole movie is both build-up to things that will probably be expanded on in the next season of the live-action show, where Vesemir is set to make a live-action appearance (and I still can’t believe they didn’t get Mark Hamill for that, he would’ve been perfect). Even though it sets up a lot you can still enjoy it as a standalone thing. It’s a great introduction to the universe of the Witcher.
Conclusion
So yeah, sorry but there is not a lot more to say for me here. It’s good, if you’re a fan of the series and tolerate the art-style you’ll probably get a kick out of it, just like I did and even if you’re new to the franchise it’s a great introduction to how it all works so to say. The Witcher is on fire lately, and I am very excited to see where it is will go in the future. I definitely recommend watching it, even if it was just to see a grim fantasy movie.
8/10
Hi there, thanks for reading! Sorry it was so short, there wasn’t really all that much to say about it, but I hope you still liked it. I’ve got a bunch of other things I’m working on, so I hope you enjoy those things too. Until next time!
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