The Witcher, Season Four Review!
Cavill out, Hemsworth in: does the Witcher still work his magic?
The Witcher: Is a Recast Enough to Ruin the Fourth Season?
After much talk, we finally got to watch the fourth season of The Witcher, the TV series inspired by the works of Andrzej Sapkowski, produced by Netflix since 2019. We find ourselves on these pages to bring you our review of "season 4" of The Witcher, naturally with the classic "no spoiler" formula so as not to ruin the experience for anyone. There were several reasons to closely follow the arrival of this new chapter, starting with what has been the topic that everyone has been talking about recently, namely the departure of Henry Cavill, who stepped out of the role of Geralt of Rivia at the end of the third season, his place taken by Liam Hemsworth. I think it's quite superfluous to elaborate on the news more than necessary. We have no certain reasons for the artistic divorce, except that Cavill had a contract for three seasons that was not renewed despite Netflix's intention to extend it to the fifth. As a great admirer of the original novels, Cavill had expressed the desire for the TV series to better reflect Sapkowski's work, and the production times seemed a bit too difficult to reconcile with his other work commitments, but there is no confirmation that one or a mix of these motivations are the cause of the abandonment. Let's limit ourselves, therefore, to discovering what this new cycle of adventures of Geralt and companions has in store for us.
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Technically speaking, the special effects are adequate for a series with a decent, but certainly not boundless, budget, with cinematography capable of jumping between very different situations without particular problems, and the direction almost always manages to produce smooth transitions and enhance the action scenes, where Hemsworth's physicality proves more than adequate to play Geralt. Perhaps I would have paid a little more attention to the rendering of the Witcher's silver hair roots, but you can't have everything. The music is good, very atmospheric, and as always, the Italian dubbing is excellent, except for a grammatical blunder by an extra in a secondary dialogue, but these are really minor details. The Italian school does not disappoint, but what leaves a bitter taste is the volume management, with sounds and voices often incredibly unbalanced. A mix of pros and cons that make the fourth season a more than sufficient product, but certainly not one that will go down in the annals of TV series. The season finale serves as a launchpad for what should be the last chapter of the saga, where we can, finally, draw our conclusions and give a definitive opinion on the completeness of The Witcher's television adaptation.
Score
Editorial team
The Witcher, Season Four Review!
We are certainly not looking at a memorable season, but neither is it the “announced disaster” that some Cassandras were predicting. The fourth season of The Witcher manages to entertain the audience, but as often happens in licensed TV series, it takes its liberties with respect to the original production, especially in style, but still tries to mend some situations that had already cracked in the third season. The three-line narrative structure is interesting, although each offers highs and lows. It must be said that the production tried to adapt the tones of the story to the personality of each of the three protagonists, but this does not change the fact that some of the “young adult” traits of Ciri's plot are probably the furthest point from Sapkowski's novels. Technically, the fourth season of The Witcher remains at good levels with decent special effects, commendable cinematography, and well-made costumes (perhaps sometimes a little too “clean”). The direction, apart from a few moments, shows attention in limiting confusion as much as possible when transitioning between narrative lines. The picture is completed by adequate acting where, among all, Freya Allan is somewhat a victim of the script choices related to Ciri. I conclude with a thought on Liam Hemsworth who may not be Cavill, but does everything possible not to succumb under the weight of the difficult legacy left by Henry. Net of the shit storms we are used to reading online in every similar case, the result is appreciable. The fourth season of The Witcher, despite some difficulties, delivers the result and launches the final rush towards the concluding chapter.
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