The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep - Review

A little sacrifice can go a long way...

This movie counts as a 'video game adaptation' if you ask me! Well, a video game related one at the very least. 

The Witcher started out as a series of short stories and books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski in the late 80's early 99's enjoyed all across its native Poland. Nowadays though, especially internationally, The Witcher is more known for the games by CD Projekt Red. The Witcher 3 is one of the best-selling and highest-regarded games there is after all. 

That means many gamers are aware of the, let´s be gracious, less than stellar Netflix adaptation but the connection goes deeper than that in this case. With Henry Cavill out, Netflix had to look for someone else to voice Geralt hereand who did they get for the job? The voice of Geralt in the games, Doug Cockle himself. 

What also excites me is that the last animated feature, Nightmare of the Wolf, isn't just the best Witcher thing Netflix has put out but is just a fun movie. I've been crossing my fingers ever since word reached my ears that there would be another animated film it would be at least as good as that one.  

That's enough of that. Let's press play and see if Netflix is 2-for-2 with The Witcher in animation!

What ought to have been a quick and easy investigation into some alleged monster attacks near a sleepy coastal town turns out to be more than the Witcher Geralt bargained for. An entire civilization of merpeople live near the town feeling threatened by the humans ever increasing fishing to feed their growing population. Aided by old allies such as the bard Jaskier, Geralt must pull out all the stops to prevent an all-out war. 

Sirens of the Deep is based on one of the short stories the series didn´t adapt, ´A Little Sacrifice´, and understandably so. Many of those early short stories are based on popular fairy tales. For example, ´The Lesser Evil´, which was adapted into the series´ very first episode, is based on Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. This one is based on The Little Mermaid and you can imagine that the entire merpeople and underwater parts wouldn't be easy to do in live action. 

Not so in animation though. You can push things quite far there and push things quite far they did. In the short story, things never escalate as far as they do here. An example for you. The short story had one mermaid and one mermaid only. Here, we have dozens and dozens of merpeople and even pay a visit to the mermaid capital stuff you can´t do as easily in live action. Not without blowing up the budget. 

The same goes for the action sequences and just the visuals in general. We have so much more magic and dynamic movement than you could get in live-action. That is certainly one of this movie's strengths. All of that stuff makes for a pretty interesting flick to just look at. Even more so than its predecessor, Sirens of the Deep is a spectacle. 

The film starts with a pretty great action sequence that has Geralt flipping and magic-ing like there is no tomorrow. I don't think even think game Geralt is this athletic! Not only did this opening look cool but it also did a great job establishing Geralt's character. The whole 'gruff man with a heart of gold' thing. 

The film is full of these, let´s call them ´high-flying' action sequences. I was impressed by that opener and it was only the first of many pretty amazing action. It did pop in my head that simply the way the action is portrayed here creates a disonance with the series. It's so much more over the top, so to speak, that it's hard to imagine Henry/Liam's Geralt doing all of this stuff but oh well. That's the definition of a nitpick. 

I also got some nitpicks about the animation. It's really good for the most part. Nice details and good in setting tone and atmosphere with their environmental design, colours and lighting and what I really appreciate is the fluidity. The visual style reminds me of Young Justice and with that, I always go back to how in the latter seasons movement was so stiff. Many talking scenes in which only lips and an occasional limb move like they were stick figures. Nothing like that here thankfully. 

It does have something else that annoys me though. The mixing of 2D and 3D. This film is mostly a 2D affair but with some 3D here and there. While I think I understand why they went this route, I can't help but notice the disparity between the two styles. They don't combine well which I find very distracting.

Also, a quick note: the steel sword is for humans and has the standard T-shaped hilt. The silver sword, recognizable by its V-shaped hilt, is for monsters. The animation department seems to not have gotten that particular message.  

2D Geralt, 3D monster. See what I mean when I say that I think these two styles clash?

With all of that out of the way, I want to circle back to our cast because there are some interesting decisions here. Let's tackle Doug Cockle first. He is a professional with years of experience in this role and that shows. I have nothing bad to say about his work here. It's as great and raspy as always. The same goes for all the other actors (well, except the raspy bit). Looking up the cast list we have some rising faces here including, but not limited to, House of the Dragon talent and they all clock in fine performances. None of that 'stunt casting' of actors, not all that well versed in the details of voice acting resulting in dull performances here! 

The other interesting bit moves us nicely into the story itself. Kind of weird looking back that I end the review with what is basically the most important thing about a film, the narrative, but that's what you get with this prose style of mine. 

As I said, this movie is based on the short story A Little Sacrifice, itself based on The Little Mermaid fairytale. Knowing that makes it that much more peculiar and funny that this film doubles down on this inspiration by bringing in elements of the most famous The Little Mermaid adaptation: the Disney film. 

The mermaid who fell in love with the prince is royalty herself is the first thing they borrowed. The introduction of their own version of Ursa as baddy on the merpeople's side is two. And you know what three is? That there is a musical number, not a Jaskier song no-no, but an honest-to-good musical number, thrown in the mix. 

This might be funny in its own way but I don't think it was a good call. By making this film so similar to The Little Mermaid it moves away from that 'inspired by' category and moves into more parody and pastiche territory. That is a disservice to The Witcher and, while that might make this movie easier for newcomers to get into, I feel it pulls it down when it comes to being its own thing that can stand on its own two feet (ha!). 

And, to be honest, the story is the film's weakest link. Not a bad link, it's not one that will just break when you look at it the wrong way, but one that doesn't have a lot of give. Part of that is that The Little Mermaid (which I've mentioned plenty) thing while the other parts are simply about the strength of writing. 

This film lacks surprise and depth. I called that twist ending an hour before it actually happened and there is not much depth in the characters. They are basically just who they are or appear to be and aside from Geralt and Jaskier not very memorable. I don't relate to them much which is a bummer when heads start to roll. When what must've been meant as a dramatic moment doesn't get more than a shrug. 

Still, I enjoyed myself. It might have been predictable and a bit shallow but I happily went along with the ride because it was well executed and it never started to grain on me. I never cringed, became bored or called foul because they jumped the proverbial shark. I very much liked going on this journey even if it wasn't particularly engaging. 

What I find more... problematic to use a strong word is that Sirens of the Deep only scratches the surface of those very 'Witchery' writing tropes. The Witcher has a very specific atmosphere, this moral complexity that makes the series stand out. 

This movie touches on these elements, blatantly calls some of them out even, but doesn't commit to them. Instead, it treats itself more like one of those other fantasy stories in which everything is pretty much hunkey-dorey by the end. An attempt to make the movie more newcomer friendly which causes this film to lose some of that Witcher identity. One I can't help but quietly mourn... 

And from that sour note, I move on to my closing remarks. 

Conclusion

When going in, I wanted The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep to be at least as enjoyable as its predecessor. The film met those expectations but didn't manage to exceed them. While it has stunning animation, thrilling action, and a welcome return for Doug Cockle as Geralt, it also leans too heavily into The Little Mermaid influences, diluting its Witcher identity. The story lacks depth, surprises, and the signature moral complexity that defines the franchise. That said, it’s still an enjoyable ride—well-executed, visually engaging, and never outright frustrating or bad.

Sirens of the Deep is a solid Witcher entry, but nothing more than that.