It's not just the violence though, it's the sex, nudity, and just the whole overall tone, and style of the show is very adult. PG-13 stuff like the Jurassic franchise are a lot closer to being kid friendly than stuff like The Witcher.
Again, I'll will have to disagree. The tone of Jurassic Park never felt not adult. I'll agree on this to a certain point, but even watching something like Camp Cretaceous I'm like "This is not right." There's a reason I put it with properties like Robocop and Alien and it's because it feels like a full on adult property that is being contorted in to a kid friendly appeal. Now, I'm not saying this is a new phenomenon because clearly Robocop, Rambo, and Alien all did it long before JP and the Walking Dead did. Just that Jurassic Park is not a property that I would say, "Yup, that's for kids!"
I actually think that compared to the game series the show is really toned down regarding nudity. I remember gratuitous boobies in the first episode, and one graphic sex scene with Yennifer (while she still had a hunchback). That's it.
Agreed. The tone tends to sometimes be cruel and cynical at times. I just have a really hard time picturing a kids show in the Witcher world. While some shows mentioned earlier are easier to translate down to a kids show, some of their violence aren't necessarily tied to it like some of the things in this series, I'd argue that in this case the violence and nudity seem intrinsically tied to it.
I agree that unlike some series (GoT, looking at you), the violence and nudity are not gratuitous. Yennifer's nude scenes were effective, well shot, and no longer than necessary, for example. The violence is tied with the dark tone of the series--although interestingly the books spend a lot more time on conversations and world building and the actual violence has a lot less gore. I do think it could be toned down for a series geared toward younger audiences, but the question is "should it be" and I can think of no reason why it should. Another question: Does anyone think the new season will include Time of Contempt? I have only read Blood of Elves and am trying to decide if I want to try and read the next book before the series comes out.
Got to say I'm really enjoying the Witcher and am looking forward to S2. This adult fantasy has put the hook in me... ...I astonished how much better shows are available streaming is v. OTA TV or cable.
With Netflix, I'm not so surprised. They spend so much both on their own creations and those that they aqcuire that out of everything, something's bound to stick.
Love the new character posters. I wonder who else will get one? Triss, Ciri and Jaskier would be the most obvious. The other thing bugs me with them making kids shows out of adult properties is that it feels like they're promoting the original series or movie to kids, when it's really not for them.
Loved the Witcher 3 game. I'm absolutely baffled at how anyone can consider the Netflix show good. So many things to complain about, where to begin. -Crap writing. Destiny, destiny, destiny, destiny, destiny, destiny. We get it. -Ridiculously low budget special effects. Those dragons looked like something out Xena Warrior Princess. -Horrible casting for Yennefer. She's supposed to be literally the most beautiful woman in the world. Like beyond supermodel quality. So they cast an unknown mousey looking Indian chick. -Time jumps made no fucking sense. Confusing as hell. And the worst offense - Geralt only had one sword. Everyone who wants to respond "hurrr durrr but in the booooooks" just shut the FUCK up right now. Having two swords, steel for humans and silver for monsters, is the coolest fucking thing about the Witcher and the most compelling visual element of the entire game. It defined the character in my head. It would have been so easy to adopt it for the show, immediately indicating what being a witcher was all about, but they dropped the ball hard. Now Geralt looks like any other generic Game of Thrones asshole out there with his single pathetic sword. So LAME.
Unfortunately, that is very often the case, even with R rated properties. Look at all the Deadpool related material that was explicitly driven towards kids, and the film itself is R. The struggle will always be that they want to appeal to the widest possible audience while still appealing to the primary audience. Because I don't give two craps about the game, and these were books first so it clearly isn't about the game either. So, no, it's not about the game. Expecting it to be like the game is setting up for disappointment.
This show even getting greenlit was a direct result of the popularity of the game. No one outside of hardcore fantasy nerds knew what the fuck a Witcher was before the game, and mostly before the third game. Witcher 3 was huge, and most of the audience for this show came from the game. So one, you're wrong. Expecting it to be like the game is perfectly reasonable. Second, the show still sucks, independent of the game. Just a complete fail on every level, from writing and dialogue, to plot structure, to casting, to special effects. 2/5 at best. Very surprised they greenlit a second season.
I don't remember having any problems with the writing. Have to completely disagree here, I thought it looked great. Not sure if it was your intent or not, but this comes across as really fucking racist. I had no problem following the timeline, it took a few episodes, but it became pretty clear after a while when everything was taking place. First of all, even if the show came out because of the games, it is still only based on the books, and not the games, so "hurr durr but in the booooooks" is a completely legitimate response.
They didn't even animate the mouth when it talked. I've seen Dwayne the Rock Johnson play scorpions that looked better than this.