THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP

Name: THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP
Item: THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP
Author: Review

"A Shallow Husk of a Movie"

Family Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP is an animated fantasy action movie on Netflix. Following the surprise slaughter of human sailors, a seaside town hires Geralt of Rivia, a stoic monster hunter for hire, to investigate. At the same time, war breaks out between the human town and the fish people from below. Geralt uncovers a secret love affair between the two kingdoms. Will Geralt be able to end the war?

THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP is based on “The Witcher” book series by Andrzej Sapkowski. The movie is “beautifully made” like an ocean, but it has the emotional depth of a puddle. The action scenes are spectacular, the art design is strong and the main character has some “honorable traits.” Sadly, these qualities are buried by a morally compromised worldview, excessive blood, nudity, and sexual immorality. Lastly, the writing and dialogue are poorly done. As a result, SIRENS OF THE DEEP is a perfect example of “all style, no substance.” The movie is meant for mature audiences, but media-wise, discerning viewers will want to dump it into the ocean.

Content:

(PaPa, BB, OO, PCPC, FeFe, LL, VVV, S, NNN, AA, DD, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong mixed pagan worldview with moral and occult elements, the hero is a mercenary-for-hire with a moral code, he spares the life of an innocent monster and chooses to fight only if it is absolutely necessary, but the hero otherwise acts in a hedonistic manner, the world is inhabited by fantastical sea creatures and occult-like magic users, the prince character falls in love with a princess from the mermaid kingdom, plus some politically correct feminist elements where the female characters are shown to be stronger willed and more capable than their male counterparts;

Foul Language:

19 obscenities (including about 12 “f” words) and one light profanity;

Violence:

Heavy action violence throughout with excessive blood, the heroes slay an army of mermen in various pieces, the human soldiers are cut and killed in gruesome fashion, the hero defeats a kraken woman in an over-the-top “shonen anime” battle sequence, a mermaid gets her tail sliced in half, the characters engage in swordplay and hand-to-hand combat, the hero and the villain throw magic blasts using the elements of fire and air, a general gets beheaded mid-battle, and a pre-teenage girl punches a boy in the face;

Sex:

The hero has a vision of meeting his ex-girlfriend at a spring, and the hero and his love interest are implied to have fornicated;

Nudity:

Glimpse of partial male genital nudity in one scene (pubic hair), some upper female nudity, implied full nudity, and hero is shirtless three times and naked while taking a bath;

Alcohol Use:

The hero and his companion visit a tavern and consume a jug of alcohol, and the hero gets drunk;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

A few sailors smoke marijuana, the prince character consumes a potion that turns himself into a merman, and the hero takes a “booster” potion that briefly gives him enhanced strength; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Numerous scenes of the hero bickering with his “bard” companion, the human king stages the human-merman civil war for his own benefit, and a mermaid tries to kill her niece after becoming jealous of the merman king.

More Detail:

THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP is an animated fantasy action movie on Netflix. Following the surprise slaughter of human sailors, a seaside town hires Geralt of Rivia (Doug Cockle), a stoic monster hunter, to investigate. At the same time, war breaks out between the human town and the fish people from below. Moreover, Geralt uncovers a secret love affair between the two kingdoms. Will Geralt be able to end the war? SIRENS OF THE DEEP is based on THE WITCHER book series by Andrzej Sapkowski.

SIRENS OF THE DEEP is set during the first season of Netflix’s fantasy series THE WITCHER. However, the movie can be consumed as a standalone experience. It does not require knowledge of the Netflix series, the novels, or the Witcher computer games by CD Projekt Red. As such, this review will analyze SIRENS OF THE DEEP on its own merits.

Geralt of Rivia is a stoic mercenary-for-hire with a moral code. He is accompanied by Jaskier, a lute player with an inferiority complex, and Essi, an eccentric yet bold woman from town. The trio discovers that a sea town is on the verge of war against an underwater kingdom. The mermen have assassinated the local sailors, and the human king has had enough. Geralt and Jaskier agree to investigate the murder and de-escalate the war, if they get paid by the human king.

Meanwhile, the human prince has fallen in love with the mermaid princess. The two lovers keep their affair a secret but yearn to defy the wills of their fathers. Later, Geralt and his companions uncover a conspiracy that will result in human and merman bloodshed. Moreover, Geralt and the prince run into trouble with their former lovers. Will Geralt be able to save the day?

SIRENS OF THE DEEP is a perfect example of “all style, no substance.” The art direction and fight choreography is top notch. Yet, the story fails to deliver on its “human-merman war” premise. The biggest problem is the writing. The dialogue is “cringe” worthy with Geralt and his companions cracking bad one-liners. The characters utter “f” words at least twelve times, and the side characters have the believability of a TikTok influencer. The plot is sloppy and feels generated by ChatGPT.

The biggest saving grace is the animated movie’s high production quality. The character design, environments and general art direction are incredible. The movie is styled after fantasy anime series like FAIRY TAIL. The action scenes are fluid, have great blocking, and match the intensity to the fight scenes shown in the popular anime series ATTACK ON TITAN. However, good action scenes aren’t enough to salvage its poor test of character.

In terms of worldview, SIRENS OF THE DEEP strays into hedonistic, occult territory. Geralt is a mercenary-for-hire with a moral code. He spares the life of a monster after he finds out it is innocent. Also, he only fights people if it’s absolutely necessary. However, Geralt has lewd visions of his ex-girlfriend, gets drunk at one point and sleeps with a female companion after one night. The characters delve into dark magic, battle a giant sea kraken and uncover a conspiracy against the merpeople. The movie might not be anti-Christian, but it reflects a morally relativistic viewpoint. This isn’t counting the excessive violence.

THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP is littered with excessive blood, over-the-top combat and sexual themes. You could fill an entire bingo card with this objectionable content. Geralt and his allies slay an army of mermen in various pieces, a human general is beheaded mid-fight, various mermen and mermaids are sliced in half, and characters are impaled by spears. Moreover, Geralt and two female characters strip down naked (but no genitalia or female nipples are shown). Lastly, Geralt takes two magic potions, which are drugs that give him brief super strength.

Ultimately, THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP is “beautiful” like an ocean, but it has the emotional depth of a puddle. The action scenes are spectacular, the art design is strong, and the main character has some “honorable traits.” These qualities are buried by a morally compromised worldview, excessive blood, nudity, and sexual immorality. Lastly, the writing and dialogue are poorly done. Therefore, advises mature viewers probably will want to dump THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP into the ocean.

Watch THE WITCHER: SIRENS OF THE DEEP →

Quality:

- Content: -3