Nightmare of the Wolf is an animated movie (83 minutes) set in the Witcher universe produced by Netflix and Studio Mir in 2021. Now, many of us are waiting for the next Witcher season to come out on Netflix... I was one who absolutely loved it! However, I'm also a huge fan of the books, comics and all the computer games... so, I'm deep into the Witcher lore and universe. Can't get enough of it, and I think it is by far and away one of the best (if not THE best) fantasy settings that there is!

Anyway, I love it to the point where I keep nagging my wife to watch it with me... either that or Battlestar Galactica... but she keeps resisting. Sooner or later, she will just watch it just to shut me up... or at least that is the approach that I'm going for! However, there may be a price to be paid... I might have to watch one of her TV series... please not Anne of Green Gables...

Anyway, rambling aside... Netflix has released this standalone Witcher mini-film along with Studio Mir to ease the suffering of some of their Witcher fans. I finally got around to watching it, and seeing as I really enjoyed what Studio Mir did with the DOTA franchise in Dragon's Blood, I had high hopes for Nightmare of the Wolf.

The movie starts off with a noble family being waylaid... by something mysterious. I guess you can't start a Witcher sort of story without an introduction into the brutal world that it is set in...

... and it gets brutal fast! Don't watch this movie is you are a little bit squeamish... it is all just animated violence and blood, but it is pretty graphic none the less!

The fight scenes are pretty comically over the top... looking more like something out of DragonballZ than what I would like from the Witcher. In fact, I would have to say that Vesemir employs some pretty ferocious magic which is a little unexpected for a talented sword master.

Anyway, this sort of action packed opening is the cliched way of introducing our main hero... and for once, it isn't Geralt but instead it is Vesemir. Now, Witcher fans will know Vesemir as Geralt's teacher and mentor at Kaer Morhen from the games and books... however, we know him as the oldest of the handful of surviving Witcher that live in the ruined castle.

The movie plays around with a similar time trick that befuddled many watchers of the Witcher Netflix series, but with less effect this time. In the TV series, it was really a big reveal moment... in Nightmare of the Wolf, it was a touch ho-hum... not really played around with much, and with thunder stolen from the previous usage. In the end, it seemed to be a sort of tick the box use.

In this movie... Vesemir is far from old, and it turns out that the Witcher clan is alive and thriving and Kaer Morhen is actually a functioning bastion that is a stronghold for the many Witchers! Something is very different here... and it turns out that Nightmare of the Wolf is a sort of origin story for the Witchers as we know them in our current game and book worlds.

... and like much in the Witcher universe, it turns out that things are always much worse than it appears. In fact, I was more than a little bit shocked by the reveal...

Tetra Gilcrest is the movie's Sorceress, in the time of Geralt, the Lodge of Sorceresses are heavily intertwined with the kings and queens of the world, acting as their advisors and the power behind the thrones.

The movie moves fast... it flits around from action sequence to action sequence, all of which is crazy fast and over the top. This is coupled with fast talking quips and some loose story development. I'm afraid that the actual story development isn't really fleshed out very well with the over-emphasis on action, and likewise... the character's barely develop at all!

I have to say that overall... I was pretty disappointed with this cartoon movie. This could have been such a great set-up and prequel to the Witcher universe that we know and love, but story and lore were glossed over and all we got were some pretty fights. Even though the reveal was shocking... it ended up being a sort of "meh" moment for the characters in the movie!

However, what WAS interesting was that four orphans escaped the carnage at Kaer Morhen... and no prizes for guessing who they were! Our beloved Witchers from Geralt's time... also, no prizes for guessing who the weird looking one is!

PS: I just found out that League of Legends is also releasing a series on Netflix! YEAH YEAH YEAH!

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