The Hexer (film)

Production

The film's budget of 19 million Polish zlotys was very high for contemporary Polish movies, and its marketing campaign had several times the budget of other Polish films of the time, aiming to imitate Hollywood super-productions. The cast included many stars of Polish cinema, the music was composed by a well-known Polish composer, and the film was tied to promotional campaigns and related products such as toys, games, and the first official English translation of The Witcher.

The Hexer was Marek Brodzki's first film as director. The final release was the third version of the film, rearranged and shortened. Some fans initially objected to the casting of several major roles; their protests, reported in the press, led to a meeting between producers, cast, and fans that appeased most protesters. Screenwriter Michał Szczerbic demanded his name not appear in the closing credits, citing two major departures from his original script.

Reception

Critics have consistently panned this film since its release, though they generally praised the actors and music while tearing into the plot and special effects. Marcin Kamiński of Filmweb called it a bad movie, describing the plot as a chaotic jumble of book scenes thrown together at random. Kamiński did single out Michał Żebrowski, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Grażyna Wolszczak as saving graces. Piotr Stasiak of gry-online liked the actors, sets, costumes, and music, but slammed the fragmented, incoherent story, which he blamed on producers who couldn't settle on a main plot and tried to cram every key moment from the planned TV series into two hours.

Bartosz Kotarba of esensja criticized a plot that tried to cover too much and ended up saying too little, plus effects so weak that a plastic dragon drew laughs from the crowd. He also called out pointless nudity and bad dialogue, though he praised the actors' efforts and the music. In a 2016 review, Barnaba Siegel of Gazeta.pl dubbed it the film everyone wants to forget. He noted some actors were fine, but others seemed to be in a children's show.

Siegel blamed the failures on an inexperienced crew, especially director Marek Brodzki. A 2018 Gazeta Wyborcza retrospective said the film had been crushed by critics and laughed off by fans. Filmweb gives it a 3.9 out of 10.