The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Review: With a Poetic Glimpse of the Depth of the Character
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep four years after “Nightmare of the Wolf” which he liked so much, gathered applause on the open scene on Netflix. The signature, once again, is that of Kwang Il Han, who again took charge of honoring Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, which became thanks to CD Projekt Red, a legendary videogame saga and then a very popular live-action TV series. The result, however, this time, is honestly below expectations, it slips into the obsolete, in the already seen and heard, between scopiazzia and unconvincing tributes. “Give a penny to your Witcher…” for another adventure. Waiting to understand how the path will end Geralt of Rivia in the live-action series, which started at the great but then lost in the continuation of its journey, our beloved striga born from the pen of Andrzej Sapkowski returns to Netflix in the animated version, with a dress that seems to fit well.
In recent years, the streaming platform has invested heavily in the fantasy franchise, so much so that not only the aforementioned live-action series has been created, but also several spin-offs such as the series on the first Witcher, Blood Origin, and the animated feature film Nightmare of the Woolf, dedicated to Vesemir. With The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, a new adventure starring Geralt is proposed directly, flanked by the irreverent bard Ranuncolo. In their wandering, needless to say, they will soon have to deal with something more than a “canonist” (if ever there are) contracted by The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, with all the elements fully characteristic of the adventures of the strigo of Andrzej Sapkowski. However, there is a substantial difference between the first and the second animated film by The Witcher: the first, The Nightmare of the Wolf, placed at the center of the story Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor and young Witcher with a turbulent character, this new work focuses instead on the central character of the saga, the one that was initially translated on screen by Herny Cavill and will be carried out by Liam Hemsworth. An important step because it reveals the desire to experiment with Geralt also in another form, to be able to develop it even beyond the live-action series.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Review: The Story Plot
If you are a fan of the world of The Witcher you naturally welcomed the news of the release date of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, the new feature film dedicated to Geralt by Rivia by Kang Hei Chul and which bears the signature in the script by Mike Ostrowski and Rae Benjamin. After the huge success of “The Witcher: the Nightmare of the Wolf” four years ago, we return to follow in the footsteps of Geralt, who is recruited by the pearl fishing community of the Kingdom of Bremervoord, to free them from attacks by sea creatures. Bremerwood is also the birthplace of his adventure companion, the bard Jaskier, who is not keeping a magnificent memory of it as regards inhabitants and friendliness. On the throne of Bremervoord sits the old King Usveldt, whose heir, Prince Agloval, he fell in love with none other than Sh’eenaz, the Princess of the Underwater Rengo, where King Basim and Queen Dahut dominate.
For some time the relations between the two kingdoms have become tense, the war is on the horizon, but Geralt realizes that there is a dark and mysterious force that is blowing on the fire, someone who has to gain from an armed conflict. But who is it? And how do you manage to avoid being discovered? Maybe there is something bigger than the pearls at stake? Someone who has to gain from an armed conflict. But who is it? And how do you manage to avoid being discovered? Maybe there is something bigger than the pearls at stake? Someone who has to gain from an armed conflict. But who is it? And how do you manage to avoid being discovered? Maybe there is something bigger than the pearls at stake? The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is created by the collaboration of Studio Mir, Platige Image, and Hivemind, the same international “cord” as in the previous chapter.
However, from the beginning, there is a step back in terms of chromatism, world-building, the use of light, and attention to detail. To this surprise is added, as we move forward, also a fluidity and much less care of the action scenes, which, however interesting, know of Deja vu from a mile away and have nothing of the creativity and dynamism of the first film. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep has a very basic narrative structure, in which references and connections to mythology, folklore, and the great classics of fiction are wasted, indeed they honestly become too many. And so here we are grappling with a submerged kingdom made of Norse sirens, tritons, and strange and monstrous creatures already known to the general public, as a note it will become the plot as you go on, the motivations of the villains that will end up showing up, the various turns and so on.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep adapts the story of A small sacrifice, contained in the anthological collection The Sword of Destiny (HERE for the guide to reading the world of The Witcher) and, in fact, among the first adventures of Geralt of Rivia. In the world of Netflix, the film is placed chronologically between the fifth and sixth episodes of the first season of the live-action series, around 1256, and immediately after the experience of Geralt and Yennefer with the djinn. In this sense, dating differs from that of books, where this adventure is located around 1262 after Geralt and Yennefer were already separated due to the events of A fragment of ice. As often happens in Sapkowski’s stories dedicated to the strigo, also for this plot the Polish writer fishes from folklore. Thanks to an invitation obtained by Ranuncolo, Geralt finds himself together with his bard friend at the Bremervood court, being hired to investigate some mysterious murders and disappearances on the boats of the pearl seekers.
By accepting the assignment for economic reasons, the strigo immediately realizes that his true mission will not consist in killing a monster, but in avoiding a war between land and sea… having to do, in the meantime, with a particular love that seems impossible. Combining the classic narrative scheme of Geralt’s adventures of Rivia with folklore, drawing in particular on The Little Mermaid and all the popular tales from which Andersen’s fairy tale originates, A Small Sacrifice presents us with a classic impossible love story, which is intertwined with themes such as greed, family dynamics and thirst for power. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep therefore perfectly adapts Sapkowski’s story, which is perfect for an animated feature: in an hour and a half, he presents us with a short but intense adventure of the strigo, proposing all those elements that make the world of The Witcher so fascinating.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Review and Analysis
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep becomes a sort of mix between “The Little Mermaid“, “Romeo and Juliet” and whoever has more, but does it in such a listless, so predictable way, that from mid to then even the less experienced spectator of fantasy or who has never read Andrzej Sapkowski’s “A Little Sacrifice” from which it is taken, will be able to predict, every supposed twist and especially every ending. All right, loyalty to the original is important, but not at the price of becoming necessarily sterile on a creative level. This is a short story, among other things, that of Sapwowski, but it has not expanded enough to be able to draw a satisfactory animated transposition. For heaven’s sake, there are also positive elements, especially on a thematic level. The film is a metaphor for the bad relationship of modern society with the ecosystem, for how much profit has become the only true God to worship. Then we also talk about power, with the cult of personality, the selfishness of those who are at the top and think they can dispose of the lives of others for their benefit, intolerance, and racism towards the different, others outside our borders.
All this, however, really in a predictable and free-of-panache way, above all without an ability to give real acceleration to the film, which even in the final battle does not go beyond the trick. The selfishness of those who are at the top and think they can dispose of the lives of others for their benefit, intolerance, and racism towards others, others outside our borders. Andrzej Sapkowski has signed many short stories, but it is not said that everyone is suitable for an animated production without a rearrangement. The 2021 film was very freely connected and is judged to be one of the best products of its kind in the past ten years not by chance. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep lasts 91 minutes but a couple of 30 more, and has several rather useless narrative moments, the dialogues then weigh everything down by a lack of depth and evident variety. However, the original dubbing is beautiful, but the Italian one is bad, not because of the caliber used by the performers, but because of the feeling of haste that is the same when the animation should make the qualitative leap, the fighting gives emotions.
There remains doubt as to how much and if Netflix still wants to invest in the universe of The Witcher, considering how bad the spin-off TV series “The Witcher: Blood Origin” also went and how gloomy the prospects for the main trend are, after Henry Cavill’s recasting with Liam Hemsworth, who left many fans unsatisfied. If you can console them, it is not very good even in the gaming world, given that the trailer of the new chapter, starring Ciri this time, has left many perplexed. Hard times for fans of Strigo. Which left many fans unsatisfied. If you can console them, it is not very good even in the gaming world, given that the trailer of the new chapter, starring Ciri this time, has left many perplexed. When Geralt is involved, as we well know, things are never so easy: The Witcher is constantly put in front of a choice and although his profession obliges him to do the necessary thing, he constantly wonders about what the right thing is, proposing in the stories, starting from his moral perspective, the various facets that exist in the world.
Nobody is totally good like nobody (and very often creatures play this role) and never totally bad; although faced in a context where one dominates the clash between cultures, lit by a fairy-tale love story, this is precisely the heart of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, for a theme that is the constituent of Geralt’s character. Precisely for this reason, the animated film could be a perfect initial approach for beginners to the world of strigo. To make Geralt’s adventure even more poetic, in addition to the particular focus on the relationship with Ranuncolo and the past of the bard, the references to amorous disturbances of our strigo; the relationship with them stages all the complexity of the sentimental sphere of our character, acting as a counterpart to the main love story that acts as an engine for narration. Yennefer is present only thanks to Geralt’s projected emotions: like a shadow, it remains in the background to color new colors the relationships that instead we actively see evolving on the scene.
That Sapkowski’s story was successful, however, is certainly not new, and it is no coincidence that it is an integral part of the constituent mythology of Geralt of Rivia. The great merit of The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep was that of expertly adapting the literary material, using animation not only to deepen Geralt’s psychology through the medium but also to immerse the viewer (who, we repeat, could also be at the first adventure with our strigo) in the splendor of the world of Sapkowski. Marine and night scenes, with attention to the smallest details and made with an absolute level of photography, are essential for building that poetic and fairytale context necessary for the narrative structure; of the visual spectacle, in which there is no shortage of vibes from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the soundtrack must then be added (enriched by the presence of Ranuncolo on stage and also including an alienating tribute to The Little Mermaid Disney), essential to offer further sensory involvement. The animation is also promoted, which makes the fighting scenes fluid and Geralt’s use of his signs.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep does not arrive on Netflix to propose new material on Geralt, but for the simple pleasure of enjoying his adventures and all the reading levels they offer; yet, in adapting a story famous all over the world, the feature film also fills the hearts of longtime fans, increasing the connection with our beloved White Wolf. One bittersweet fairy tale, complex in its linearity and never banal in its simplicity and that leads us, as always, to want to follow Geralt on horseback at the end of the adventure. Where it goes, it matters little: however much you say you need “money, peace”, we know that he too looks for much more and we will be at his side to see where the events will take him. Books, TV series, animation, video games, and comics: The world of The Witcher never seems to stew.
Compared to the first animated incarnation of The Witcher, The Sirens of the Abyss seemed less balanced in narrative development, in particular, it seemed to us that some characters introduced by the film, such as They Daven, deserved more space than they managed to gather in the hour and a half duration of the story. At the same time, he didn’t fully convince us game of quotes and suggestions de The Little Mermaid in his Disney sense, perhaps too insisted on being well integrated into the story. However, it was a pleasure to find some characters from the original story, even with the original voices of Joey Batey for Ranuncolo and Anya Chalotra for Yennefer, while to voice Geralt there is Doug Cockle, who had already played the character in the video games of CD Projekt Red. And precisely this point, or the animated Geralt, is what convinced us most.
On the other hand, the entire technical sector is positive and Studio MIR has done an excellent job in terms of general look, and character design, but above all the fluidity of the action: the sequences plus action and the fights are dynamic, engaging and exciting, as well as the general atmosphere that accompanies the story. If he had already convinced us of The Nightmare of the Wolf, The Sirens of the Abyss he confirmed to us, despite his narrative imperfection, that the saga can have a very interesting future in animation, both drawing on the original material of the author who imagining something more original and articulated than a film. If after the change between Cavill and Hemsworth, you decide not to continue beyond the live-action series, this may be the way to continue the journey in the world of The Witcher. We wouldn’t mind at all!
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Review: The Last Words
Adapting the story A Small Sacrifice, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep presents a canonical story about Geralt of Rivia exploiting all the potential of the animated medium, with a poetic glimpse of the depth of the character, his moral and loving dilemmas and, more generally, on the beauty and complexity of the world created by Andrzej Sapkowski. And in this sense, with the animated projects Netflix seems not to miss a beat. Despite some narrative imperfections that make it a step backward from the previous one The Nightmare of the Wolf, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is the confirmation that the world imagined by Andrzej Sapkowski can have an interesting, animated incarnation, which can also replace that live action which is now dominant. Studio MIR’s work on the entire technical sector is very good, both in terms of general design and atmosphere and in terms of the fluidity of the action and the most dynamic sequences. It is a pleasure to find, in the original, some of the original voices of the saga and Geralt’s interpreter in video games.
Cast: Doug Cockle, Joey Batey, Anya Chalotra, Christina Wren
Director: Kang Hei Chul
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep Review: With a Poetic Glimpse of the Depth of the Character - Filmyhype
Director: Kang Hei Chul
Date Created: 2025-02-12 18:25
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