The Witcher followers know tips on how to wait.
It has been six months since we farewelled The Witcher in Henry Cavill mode, with Liam Hemsworth’s Geralt gauntlet anticipated later this yr. We have been calmly thriving on information of the fourth RPG sport in The Witcher franchise, the primary since 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, however it should be some time earlier than we’re roaming the Continent, as Ciri this time.
So, for these lacking The Witcher, there is a new animated Netflix movie that is fairly the crossover between the books, the voice abilities of the video games, and the reside motion sequence. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep sees Doug Cockle, who voiced titular witcher Geralt of Rivia within the video games, returning to the position alongside Joey Batey and Anya Chalotra, who performed Jaskier and Yennefer within the TV present.
Directed by The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf‘s Kang Hei Chul and animated by South Korean animation studio Studio MIR, Sirens of the Deep features like a facet quest for Geralt and his unrelentingly chipper bard pal Jaskier, sending them right into a simmering, potential battle between people and merpeople, with spectacular struggle scenes, spectacular monsters, and characteristically awkward love scenes in retailer. And it is greater than near the story of The Little Mermaid.
What’s The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep about?
Credit score: Netflix
Sirens of the Deep is about in Season 1 of the Netflix sequence, between episodes 5 and 6, after Geralt meets Yennefer for the primary time amid the entire djinn enterprise. Written by Mike Ostrowski and Rae Benjamin, produced by The Witcher sequence showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich with The Witcher writer Andrzej Sapkowski as a inventive marketing consultant, Sirens of the Deep successfully features as a canon facet story, primarily based on the brief story “A Little Sacrifice” from the second Witcher ebook, Sword of Future.
Geralt and Jaskier examine the seaside kingdom of Bremervoord, run by King Usveldt (Simon Templemen), the place violence between sea creatures and people is on the rise, threatening all-out battle. The battle may very well be resolved by way of the marriage of the merprincess Sh’eenaz (Emily Carey) and human prince Agloval (Camrus Johnson), however as a substitute their union is scorned by their households — except for the princess’ scheming aunt Melusina (Mallory Jansen) — and people on each side preserve turning up useless.
Mashable High Tales
How does Geralt get caught up on this political mess? As he all the time does: by being employed to kill a monster, avoiding doing so due to his ethical compass, and discovering himself hauled right into a pompous royal throne room stuffed with bearded accusations and knee-jerk declarations of retribution. Writers Ostrowski and Benjamin embody loads of banter between Geralt and Jaskier between these moments, and importantly deliver one in every of Sapkowski’s much less identified characters to the display: Jaskier’s Bremervoord bard bestie Essi Daven (the closest we have come to seeing Essi onscreen was by way of the character of Priscilla in Wild Hunt).
In what looks like an surprising flip for The Witcher universe, Sirens of the Deep mirrors Disney’s model of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairy story The Little Mermaid proper right down to an undeniably “Poor Unfortunate Souls” second between Sh’eenaz and Melusina. Nonetheless, the movie pushes the story of a mer-human romance into extra violent territory, in all probability extra akin to the darkish temper of the unique story, sending the people and merfolk right into a brutal battle after a number of bloody assaults. Simply as Ursula made a whirlpool of aquatic hell, Melusina has her tentacles stirring an evil plan.
The struggle scenes in Sirens of the Deep are phenomenal
Credit score: Netflix
All through Sirens of the Deep there’s some dabbling in a lukewarm romantic storyline between Geralt and Essi, and a middlingly transferring reflection on Jaskier’s childhood in Bremervoord. However the actual star is the motion scenes.
Seizing on the gravity-defying advantages of animation, Sirens of the Deep options some actually magnificent fights. Brutal, bloody, and artfully choreographed, these scenes outshine the movie’s narrative and permit Geralt to do some fairly rattling fancy footwork — the movie opens with an acrobatic battle with an Allamorax sea monster that may value a mint in reside motion. South Korean animation studio Studio MIR, who’ve labored on The Legend of Korra, Dota: Dragon’s Blood, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge and the primary Netflix Witcher animation, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, actually exhibit these expertise in these scenes of pure violence. Eyeballs bulge, our bodies are unceremoniously ripped in half, and large tentacles are hacked at.
However except for these chaotic chapters of fight, what makes it actually really feel like a win for Witcher followers is the return of 1 very acquainted voice.
It is rattling good to listen to Doug Cockle’s voice
Credit score: Netflix
The moment satisfaction that comes from listening to Cockle’s voice as Geralt of Rivia is truthfully price watching Sirens of the Deep for. Cavill took cues from Cockle for his personal characterisation, so it is deeply fulfilling to listen to Sport Geralt’s gravelly vocals throughout the Netflix sequence. Nobody fairly delivers the road “Fuck” fairly like Cockle, and Sirens of the Deep is aware of it. And whereas a number of moments within the movie hinge on cringeworthy and tacky, not one second of Cockle’s supply misses.
Cockle’s efficiency mixed with Studio MIR’s spectacular animated struggle scenes make Sirens of the Deep a worthy look ahead to The Witcher followers. For those who can survive the awkwardness of the romance scenes, can run with The Little Mermaid parallels, and have lengthy yearned for a Joey Batey bard banger second, you may have an honest time.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is now streaming on Netflix.
