©Courtesy of Netflix
Much like Philadelphia has its Rocky Balboa statue, the Polish city of Lodz features an enormous 2,000 square meter mural of Geralt of Rivia, the monster-fighter-for-hire also known as “The Witcher.” First Andrzej Sapkowski’s stories were adapted as a Polish film and TV series. Then, Netflix produced an English language series, starring Henry Cavill. A subsequent standalone anime prequel, Nightmare of the Wolf, focused on the young Geralt and his mentor. Franchise fans will be happy to see the white-haired, gravel-voiced Geralt they know and love venturing forth in the newest anime feature, Kang Hei Chul’s The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, produced by Studio Mir, which just premiered on Netflix.
Sure, Geralt slays fantastical creatures with his magically-instilled superhuman strength and reflexes, but he still lives and works by a code. Those principles lead him to spare the life of a sea monster, when the merpeople explain the rough beast was only hungry for its depleted natural diet of oysters. Of course, the pearl-divers of Bremervoord who hired Geralt were not so impressed by his scruples. Nevertheless, the Machiavellian King Usveldt retains Geralt anyway to investigate a series of attacks perpetrated by the Vodnik, a Creature from the Black Lagoon-like race of aquatic warriors.
Usveldt and his military commander (and illegitimate son), Zelest, suspect the Vodnik are proxies controlled by the merpeople’s queen. That is rather awkward, considering Usveldt’s heir, Prince Agloval, has fallen in love with her daughter, the mermaid Princess Sh’eenaz. Ambiguous love appears to be in the air in Bremervoord, because Geralt has been uncharacteristically flirty with Essi Daven, the childhood friend of his annoying bard and companion, Jaskier. Far from jealous, Jaskier encourages Geralt’s interest, considering Daven a much healthier alternative to Yennefer, the Sorceress, who still visits the Witcher in his dreams.
©Courtesy of Netflix
Weirdly, Rae Benjamin & Mike Ostrowski’s adaptation of Sapkowski’s short story A Little Sacrifice (shoehorned between the fifth and sixth episodes of season one) greatly parallels the DC animated film Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. In both films, power-hungry villains manipulate aquatic societies into declaring war on surface dwelling humans. Arguably, Sirens of the Deep stands alone quite easily for newcomers, but franchise fans will more fully appreciate Geralt’s conflicted feelings regarding Yennefer and Daven.
Regardless, Kang and company deliver a whole lot of monster-hunting action. Blood flows—like water from a fire hose—but it does not feel quite so gory, since most of it splatters out of magical malevolent creatures. Geralt gets to have more fun than just hacking and slashing, but his assignations never get too explicit. Still, parents should consider themselves strongly cautioned.
Sadly, Henry Cavill exited the franchise, but the fanbase should be happy to hear Doug Cockle, Geralt’s voice in the video games, reprising his role in Sirens of the Deep. Christina Wren’s upbeat voiceover work perfectly suits the charming Daven. Joey Batey provides continuity with Netflix’s live-action series, by returning as Jaskier, but his silly, shtickiness clashes with Geralt’s grimdark persona, rather than complimenting it.
©Courtesy of Netflix
Perhaps just as importantly, the film boasts a lot of nice creature design work. Indeed, the Vodnik and various sea monsters look great on-screen and they certainly provide Geralt plenty of exercise. The climatic sea battle is fittingly large in scale and brutal in intensity, but also cleanly executed and easy to follow. Plus, the high-pitched vocalizations of the merpeople language, rendered in subtitles throughout the film, nicely add to the strange fantastical vibe.
Admittedly, Sirens of the Deep falls short of the artistry of the unfairly underappreciated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, but it similarly displays a keen understanding of its source material and an affinity for its fans. Essentially, Kang, Benjamin, and Ostrowski let Geralt be Geralt. That means plenty of slicing and dicing. Recommended for franchise faithful and viewers in the mood for some anime fantasy action, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep now streams on Netflix.
Grade: B
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Here’s the trailer of the film.