It recovers its stride eventually, but anyone who wasn’t already into Marco’s adventures helping raise--and potentially decimate--the Mongol Empire won’t be won over by a second year that’s, by and large, exactly the same as the first. And, unfortunately, with a lot of the same problems. On the positive side, that means it’s still got style.
A fun, body-flinging, old-fashioned epic.... As Kublai Khan, British actor Benedict Wong gives an impressive performance, one of the best of the year: You absolutely believe his ruthlessness, his power and his calculating thoughtfulness. As Marco Polo, on the other hand, Italian actor Lorenzo Richelmy, who looks like a more lyrical Emile Hirsch, mostly has to be put up with.
Ultimately, once viewers overcome the sluggish pace there’s something for everyone with Marco Polo. History lovers will enjoy Googling along with the series as historical names and battles are introduced while martial arts fans will appreciate the intricately choreographed fight scenes. Although the series isn’t as riveting as “Game of Thrones,” strong performances and impeccable visuals make it worthy of a watch on a slow and rainy afternoon.
The lavishly produced, and reportedly mega-expensive, Marco Polo can be a feast for the eyes, even when the overripe dialogue ("Treachery grows well in the fertile soil of contempt I tilled") and uneven performances feel dramatically undernourished.
Beautiful but dull, at least in the early going.
Shot primarily in Kazakhstan and Malaysia, the series is richly atmospheric, lavishly produced, and artfully rendered. But you may find that the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It doesn't work nearly as well as drama as it does as sheer spectacle.
Marco Polo doesn’t stack up to the political maneuverings and bloody battles within the Seven Kingdoms, and so often resembles George R.R. Martin fan-fiction, it seems wiser to revisit the superior show.
Good-looking--also lethargic, languid, listless and a little bit lifeless--at least in the early going.
Marco Polo's pilot blows. The premise is stale, a riff on the Western-white-guilt stranger-in-a-strange-land-goes-native genre.... Somewhere in the middle of episode 2, though, Marco Polo becomes surprisingly watchable. The filmmaking becomes bolder.
Marco Polo flits between storytelling styles without completely tying them together as successfully as "Game of Thrones" does.... By the fifth and sixth episodes the action picks up, the intrigue deepens and the stakes some higher.
Utter garbage, and a striking case of white gaze in media. This show meanders through two seasons, struggling to give its white male lead anything to do (as it constantly wastes our time by depicting his sidequests to a main story that clearly has nothing to do with him), teasing us with much more interesting characters played by fairly competent actors like Benedict Wong, and coming off as extremely low budget because of the sheer amount of shortcuts they took with every setpiece (despite the series actually having a significantly larger budget than most series because of it being shot on location, making it a case of mismanagement). What I can say is genuinely malicious about the series is all the white gaze in it, with minority characters sacrificing themselves to save Marco's sorry ass time and time again, despite Marco being utterly useless in his own series. This thing also loses points for ending on a blatant cliffhanger where-in Prester John of all people (a non-existant historical figure) lays waste to Khan's empire offscreen. The series might as well have ended with a dragon coming to destroy everything.
Amazing one of the most Underrated show i have ever seen and for real! Good actors good scenario the ost is also really nice and for once no woke shiet in this movie , No black mongolian Warlord or no Black warrior from the hollywoke fantasy.
One of the most underated TV show I have ever watched, good story, good characters, good vilain. Critics have putten a bad review because they don't know **** about TV shows .If you love history, action, and drama go watch quikcly this TV show .
Overall, this show was a very good production and most aspects were convincing. The storytelling kind of entangles the viewer with the story by struggle. You struggle with the characters, their decisions, so that ultimately, you hope for some bright moments in the story, some resolve. Regardless, the show has been canceled due to its huge costs.
Really enjoyed the series. Never thought I would be so fascinated by Mongolian and Chinese culture, yet here I am deciding to read more on their history after this show :D Bummer it was cancelled.
I love the action , the mongolian and the chinese colture. The series is not that long so you can watch it in 2-6 days.
One of the few great/interesting netflix series ever created and It is bloody cancelled tells alot about filthy netflix and their agenda
Sign in to write reviews, reply to threads, and like content.