'The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep' review: Geralt meets 'The Little Mermaid'
The Witcher fans know how to wait.
It's been six months since we farewelled The Witcher in Henry Cavill mode, with Liam Hemsworth's Geralt gauntlet expected later this year. We've been lightly thriving on news of the fourth RPG game in The Witcher franchise, the first since 2015's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but it's going to be a while before we're roaming the Continent, as Ciri this time.
So, for those missing The Witcher, there's a new animated Netflix film that's quite the crossover between the books, the voice talents of the games, and the live action series. The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep sees Doug Cockle, who voiced titular witcher Geralt of Rivia in the games, returning to the role alongside Joey Batey and Anya Chalotra, who played Jaskier and Yennefer in the TV show.
Directed by The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf's Kang Hei Chul and animated by South Korean animation studio Studio MIR, Sirens of the Deep functions like a side quest for Geralt and his unrelentingly chipper bard pal Jaskier, sending them into a simmering, potential war between humans and merpeople, with spectacular fight scenes, impressive monsters, and characteristically awkward love scenes in store. And it's more than close to the tale of The Little Mermaid.
What is The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep about?
Sirens of the Deep is set in Season 1 of the Netflix series, between episodes 5 and 6, after Geralt meets Yennefer for the first time amid the whole djinn business. Written by Mike Ostrowski and Rae Benjamin, produced by The Witcher series showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich with The Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski as a creative consultant, Sirens of the Deep effectively functions as a canon side story, based on the short story "A Little Sacrifice" from the second Witcher book, Sword of Destiny.
Geralt and Jaskier investigate the seaside kingdom of Bremervoord, run by King Usveldt (Simon Templemen), where violence between sea creatures and humans is on the rise, threatening all-out war. The conflict could be resolved through the wedding of the merprincess Sh'eenaz (Emily Carey) and human prince Agloval (Camrus Johnson), but instead their union is scorned by their families — aside from the princess' scheming aunt Melusina (Mallory Jansen) — and folks on both sides keep turning up dead.
How does Geralt get caught up in this political mess? As he always does: by being hired to kill a monster, avoiding doing so thanks to his moral compass, and finding himself hauled into a pompous royal throne room full of bearded accusations and knee-jerk declarations of retribution. Writers Ostrowski and Benjamin include plenty of banter between Geralt and Jaskier between these moments, and importantly bring one of Sapkowski's less known characters to the screen: Jaskier's Bremervoord bard bestie Essi Daven (the closest we've come to seeing Essi onscreen was through the character of Priscilla in Wild Hunt).
In what feels like an unexpected turn for The Witcher universe, Sirens of the Deep mirrors Disney's version of Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale The Little Mermaid right down to an undeniably "Poor Unfortunate Souls" moment between Sh'eenaz and Melusina. However, the film pushes the story of a mer-human romance into more violent territory, probably more akin to the dark mood of the original tale, sending the humans and merfolk into a brutal war after several bloody attacks. Just as Ursula made a whirlpool of aquatic hell, Melusina has her tentacles stirring an evil plan.
The fight scenes in Sirens of the Deep are phenomenal
Throughout Sirens of the Deep there's some dabbling in a lukewarm romantic storyline between Geralt and Essi, and a middlingly moving reflection on Jaskier's childhood in Bremervoord. But the real star is the action scenes.
Seizing on the gravity-defying benefits of animation, Sirens of the Deep features some truly magnificent fights. Brutal, bloody, and artfully choreographed, these scenes outshine the film's narrative and allow Geralt to do some pretty damn fancy footwork — the film opens with an acrobatic battle with an Allamorax sea monster that would cost a mint in live action. South Korean animation studio Studio MIR, who've worked on The Legend of Korra, Dota: Dragon's Blood, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge and the first Netflix Witcher animation, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, really show off those skills in these scenes of pure violence. Eyeballs bulge, bodies are unceremoniously ripped in half, and giant tentacles are hacked at.
But aside from these chaotic chapters of combat, what makes it truly feel like a win for Witcher fans is the return of one very familiar voice.
It's damn good to hear Doug Cockle's voice
The instant satisfaction that comes from hearing Cockle's voice as Geralt of Rivia is honestly worth watching Sirens of the Deep for. Cavill took cues from Cockle for his own characterisation, so it's deeply fulfilling to hear Game Geralt's gravelly vocals within the Netflix series. No one quite delivers the line "Fuck" quite like Cockle, and Sirens of the Deep knows it. And while several moments in the film hinge on cringeworthy and cheesy, not one moment of Cockle's delivery misses.
Cockle's performance combined with Studio MIR's spectacular animated fight scenes make Sirens of the Deep a worthy watch for The Witcher fans. If you can survive the awkwardness of the romance scenes, can run with The Little Mermaid parallels, and have long yearned for a Joey Batey bard banger moment, you'll have a decent time.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is now streaming on Netflix.
Topics Netflix
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
