Marco Polo

Netflix and Weinsteins have decided that they also want their variation on the Game of Thrones/Vikings/Borgia. So they took tens of millions of dollars, went to many continents, spared no effort on the set, backdrops or costumes, and created a series that is based on the same foundations as successful (pseudo) historical series of competition; that is, conspiracy (and sex), black and white characters (and sex), fights and battles (and sex), behind-the-scenes intrigues (and sex), naked girls and sex. They cleverly headed into the department that offers a considerable degree of freedom, exoticism and attractiveness of a stormy time full of change. But in order not to let Western viewer say "why look at a bunch of intriguing Asians, it is covered by a legend about Marco Polo (who plays the role of Blackthorne of Clavell Shogun), although it soon becomes clear that he is not someone who would interest the screenwriters in the first place, and so he mostly just wanders, has nothing to do (unless he is just having sex) and here and there he teaches a kung fu lesson to a blind Zen wisdom-uttering master. After all, this is another problematic aspect; on the one hand, the creators are building (mostly successfully, however slowly) a serious drama full of intrigue and behind-the-scenes power games, and on the other hand, they cannot do without two to three over the top moments in each episode that would probably fit into something à la 300. And so there are many slow-motion scenes, a naked girl jumping into the air like a gymnast and slaughtering fully armed guards, etc. It's filmed in an eye-pleasing way, but it doesn't fit into the overall concept of the series. It's filmed in an eye-pleasing way, but it doesn't fit into the overall concept of the series. Also, the characters and dialogs are not written as well (not to be confused with poorly) as the current leaders of the genre, i.e. the cast doesn't have much to perform at first (the first episodes are purely based on Benedict Wong), which goes hand in hand with a rather slow start. Before something really happens and something goes on, there is something to look at and something to enjoy visually, but that's all. However, as soon as it passes the middle of the series and settles, it must be acknowledged that the creators managed to approach the quality of their competing originals. And who knows, for example, in the coming seasons they will go one step further and even fully match them; thanks to the second half, the foundations are laid solid for this.| S1: 3/5 | (16.12.2014)