The Witcher franchise continues to grow on Netflix, from its live-action show to prequels and an animated film. Before we get to continue our adventure with Geralt in Season 4, with Liam Hemsworth taking over from Henry Cavill. We’re sent back to Season 1 to experience a story with Geralt and Jaskier that’s set between episodes 5 and 6. While some spin-offs haven’t fared well with the general audience, does The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep do a better job of telling a story that warrants its own project, or is this just another way for Netflix to squeeze some money out of what may be a dying franchise for them?
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is based on an original story by Andrzej Sapkowski that tells the story of Geralt of Rivia (Doug Cockle), a mutated monster hunter who’s hired to investigate a series of attacks in a seaside village and finds himself drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople. He must count on friends — old and new — to solve the mystery before the hostilities between the two kingdoms escalate into an all-out war.
Joey Batey and Anya Chalotra make their return from The Witcher series to voice their respective characters, Jaskier and Yennefer. While Yennefer only appears during flashbacks, these are integral to this point in Geralt’s journey and his relationship with newcomer Essi Daven (Christina Daven). If you’ve watched the first season of The Witcher, this story slots in perfectly, although it still bears the question of if this was even worth connecting to the Netflix show or if it would’ve been better off as its own standalone animated movie.
Jaskier is always a fun character to be around as he tags along with Geralt on his monster-hunting adventure. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep provides some more depth to his character as we learn of Essi, also known as Little Eye. The return of Joey Batey is welcome, as he’s made this character his own, and without him, it would’ve felt slightly odd. These two actors making their return and the inclusion of Yennefer are the only links to the Netflix show; outside of that, it felt quite pointless linking the two.
Since Henry Cavill left the role of Geralt, Liam Hemsworth has taken over for the remaining two seasons of the show. Hemsworth doesn’t make his first appearance here, and instead, Doug Cockle, widely known for voicing Geralt in the video games, returns to lend his voice to this animated film. It’s a great reminder of how Geralt is supposed to sound, and although Cavill’s take on Geralt wasn’t the worst, it still feels refreshing to hear Cockle’s voice outside of the games. It was even more reason for why this film should’ve been standalone and not set within the parameters of Netflix’s universe.
The overall story follows the forbidden love between Sh’eenaz (Emily Carey), princess of the merpeople, and Prince Agloval (Camrus Johnson). The story itself is quite predictable and tends to fall into some tropey areas regarding how to deal with forbidden love. At points, it feels like The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is taking some story beats from The Little Mermaid. There’s not much else to say regarding the story, and it’s unfortunately one of the weaker points of this overall film.
Thankfully, Studio Mir, known for animating The Legend of Korra and Lookism, which the director of this film, Kang Hei Chul, also worked on, has given us a new question to ask. Would The Witcher universe benefit from being animated instead of its live-action counterpart? The answer clearly seems to be yes just from the opening moment of this film. Geralt’s fight with the Allamorax showcases the true fighting capabilities of the Witcher as we witness him doing flips mid-fight as he battles against the sea beast. The likes of which you’ll never get to see play out in live action. There are limitations which are unleashed once we step into the realm of animation.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep feels like a pointless addition to the overall Witcher universe, as it tells a story that’s not only bland but doesn’t provide the fans with anything new to work with. While the story may not be its strongest point, the action is favourable with Studio Mir’s animation work and Kang Hei Chul’s direction making it worth the watch to witness how Geralt and the creatures of this world should truly be moving in a fight. It’s yet another entry for Netflix within the universe that doesn’t land as well as it should. With only two seasons of the show remaining, will we still see more spin-offs, or will Netflix finally call it quits?
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is streaming now on Netflix.
