It’s the holiday season, and many of us are about to head home for a few days of awkward, if not outright uncomfortable, time at home with the fam. Will Netflix’s massive new original show, Marco Polo, provide the escape so many of us desire?
It’s the holiday season, and many of us are about to head home for a few days of awkward, if not outright uncomfortable, time at home with the fam. Will Netflix’s massive new original show, Marco Polo, provide the escape so many of us desire?
Well, the short answer is “yes” but the long answer is “maybe.”
Marco Polo premiered earlier this month to pretty fair-to-crappy reviews. But we’ll get into that shortly.
As for the plot, over the course of the 10 hour+ long episodes, the show follows the life and times of explorer Marco Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) after he is left as a slave/gift to Mongol leader Kublai Khan (Benedict Wong) in 13th century China.
What unfolds is a series of battles and duels, some drama and some suspense, all loosely based on the writings of the real Venetian merchant/traveller Marco Polo.
You could call it House of Cards with more facial hair and horses, but that might make people not want to watch House of Cards.
There’s some good to be found, including one of the best full-frontal nude fight scenes since Eastern Promises.
In fact, this show is just about dripping in full frontal nudity. As I watched, I couldn’t help but wonder what the show’s budget was for merkins alone.
Some reviewers put the level of nudity into the gratuitous category – admittedly, there are times when it seemed excessive.
But while I don’t doubt it happened, I have trouble believing EVERY NEGOTIATION during 13th century China took place in the middle of a brothel’s try-outs session.
I mean, if all these girls are constantly auditioning, when do they suit up for the real deal? (I guess it’s for the many many scenes which take place in the “Hall of 5 Desires,” which is a subtle a name as it sounds.)
But beyond the nudity, there’s some decent political intrigue in there, and it’s exciting to see a show feature so many actors of Asian decent – kudos to NetFlix for not white-washing anything.
Here’s where I come clean: I only got about 5 episodes into the series. After that point, I saw little reason to continue.
As beautiful as the show is – and the production staff deserves all the credit for creating a very realistic world – it lacks any real emotional connection.
The elaborate wall ornaments and mummified elephant-testicle spoons are amazing set pieces in a show which comes off more like a dramatic museum tour than a television show.
I spent most of my viewing time trying to figure out why this show was so hard to connect to.
Maybe, when Frank Underwood broke the fourth wall in House of Cards, it created a real connection with the audience and brought us into this world we could never be a part of.
Sadly, the complicated history of ancient China leaves little room for modern day connection – at the risk of sounding racist, it became hard to keep up with characters, titles, and alliances. But honestly, I think that falls on the writers for not establishing better tools to differentiate the details.
Now, the show’s many different directors may have all had trouble deciding on how to tell a enthralling story and each were just following orders. Either way, the final product was so taxing. This show lacked joy, even the kind of joy I get when watching a beloved character die (Cue the HoC metro scene when we say goodbye to Zoe.)
So should you spend time watching Marco Polo with your family this holiday?
Well, Dad might enjoy the boobs until he passes out on the armchair, and mom might enjoy the scenery and history. But this also might be a good time to refresh yourself on House of Cards before it returns in February.
