Julien Neaves, Editor
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times—all adult animation is NOT anime. Could someone please tell the marketing folks at Netflix that? With that out of the way, Netflix’s newest not-anime dark fantasy film The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is a pretty good time.
The film is a prequel to Netflix’s live action The Witcher series which is based on the popular books and video game franchise of the same name centred on Geralt, one of the titular supernaturally-powered mutant monster hunters. The animated spin-off movie focuses on the origin of Vesemir, Geralt’s mentor and fellow witcher.
I’m a huge fan of The Witcher series, which despite being very good and having Superman himself Henry Cavill in the main role didn’t get the level of buzz I expected. And I found Nightmare an entertaining side story to this rich, fantasy world.
The first thing that stands out is the difference between Geralt and Vesemir. While Geralt is this bulky, brooding hero, Vesemir is a much more suave, witty and jocular character. One of the characters describe him as “swashbuckling” which is an apt description. He’s a fun and very likeable guy, and Divergent actor Theo James does a commendable job of bringing him to life. James has great chemistry with Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica) who voices Vesemir’s regal and wise love interest Lady Illyana. Their relationship is an unconventional one but very sweet and engaging. Lara Pulver (Spooks, Sherlock) is also quite fun as gloomy sorceress Tetra Gilcrest.
The film features the grand fantasy action, creepy monsters and nudity the series is known for. The animation is very well done and the story is solid and relatively easy to follow, if not outstanding. And while Witcher fans would enjoy all the references the film can still be enjoyed without franchise knowledge.
So if you’re a fan of The Witcher and want to get a fix before the second season drops on December 17 then you should enjoy Nightmare of the Wolf. Or if you are not familiar with the series but you enjoy your fantasy dark and adult then this would be a good gateway in.
Editor Jules’s Score: 7 out of 10
So have you tossed a coin to Nightmare of the Wolf? What did you think of it? And you can check out more Netflix adult animated (but NOT anime) fantasy content with video game ties below:
Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by Freddy Krueger, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “12 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.