Wiedźmin

When I have work my way through the film, I think it's a missed opportunity. All they had to do was come up with a script that was less megalomaniac and more closed, invite a handy director with ideas (since there are no original ideas in the film) and wait for the Fellowship of the Ring fever to break out. Then surely the distribution companies would hear the word fantasy film, and perhaps The Hexer could have done better, opening the way for more films of this kind. Unfortunately, the experiment failed, the film is hopelessly mediocre, the reaction very cold, and it’s no wonder. An excellent author needs excellent interpreters. Interpreters who grasp the essence of the story and transform it organically into the language of the film. The crew of The Hexer managed to create a terrible mess with several Achilles heels. But I have to admit, despite all the issues, I'm glad they at least tried. You can watch it with a little goodwill with decent passion and without stomach problems. Perhaps a series is more worthy of the name of the wonderful Sapkowski saga. (29.01.2004)

I can only review the series, but I didn't last longer than eight episodes with it. Undoubtedly, there are much weaker works in the history of film and television in the fantasy genre, but compared to Andrzej Sapkowski's excellent books, the result is rather awkward. The weak screenplay, which also differs from the source in many aspects, unbalanced performances, and a noticeably lower budget couldn't be saved by the well-cast Michał Żebrowski who is also equipped with a very decent acting range, nor by several Polish acting aces who appeared in smaller roles. From such strong material, a much more decent spectacle could have been made, and a much greater mystique could have emanated from it. Overall impression: 35%. (09.11.2006)

This series of marvelous tales that have become classics in this part of the world has already been utterly defiled by Marek Brodzki and his crew in a ten-part series. In certain respects, this one wasn’t absolutely abortive, but overall it is severely unworthy of its literary precursor. And now imagine, going into the cutting room without any hint of a plan and editing this into a feature-length movie. What is the result? That’s right, an insanely boring and lamely ridiculous mishmash that’s so bad it makes the audience nauseous. The production design was meagre even for a series, but the creators must have been crazy to think this would be enough for a regular movie. The Hexer avoided getting the lowest possible rating only thanks to the well-cast Zebrowski. Too bad that he had no acting to do. The rest of the ensemble isn’t even worth mentioning... By the way, an intro to the computer game of the same name is exactly what the movie Hexer doesn’t manage to offer, not even for an instant, let alone for the duration of a whole scene. (17.11.2007)

The Hexer redefined the term "bad movie". At the beginning, the screening room was packed. When I woke up halfway through, there were 12 people left, and the fact that it was in Polish without subtitles had nothing to do with it. (17.02.2004)

Compared to the series, one star down, for the editing, the shortening and thus the confusing the plot. However, I commend the distributors for at least releasing a DVD of the film, if nothing else. (26.10.2010)