By DECLAN HERTEL Staff Writer
Netflix’s “Marco Polo” released its first season in December 2014 to find it widely panned by critics; review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes says a mere 27 percent of professional reviews were positive.
And yet, feedback from its audience tells a different story: the people watching it absolutely love it, with user ratings of 8.3/10 on IMDB, 8.7/10 on MetaCritic and 93 percent positivity on Rotten Tomatoes.
I believe this is a great — if harsh — summary of the show: it is imperfect and by no means high art, but, oh man, is it entertaining.
The show is a highly fictionalized account of famed explorer Marco Polo’s time spent in the court of Kublai Khan in the latter part of the 13th century. And boy, is it epic in every sense.
It’s bursting with court intrigue, martial arts mysticism, medieval brutality, challenges to honor, overly dramatic dialogue, beautifully rendered costumes, one extremely handsome Italian and more rarely justifiable female nudity than you can shake a scimitar at.
It has the makings of a wild roller coaster ride through medieval Asia, but instead moves at a satisfyingly tense slow burn, more of a feast-for-the-eyes boat ride with occasional thrilling bursts of speed.
While ostensibly about the adventures of the titular Italian played by Lorenzo Richelmy, they are hardly the best part of the show. Polo’s character arcs occasionally feel like an afterthought, as if the writers sometimes forget he’s in the show.
His romance is flat and his character goes from highly engaging to highly boring at random intervals, but he is fun when he gets a chance to be with just enough shine to him that I hope he gets further building in later seasons. He’s also very attractive. Just saying.
Despite the title, the truly exciting part of “Marco Polo” is the intrigue in the court of Kublai Khan. Betrayals, wars, disgraces, insults, beatings and a touch of gout all come together to create an ever-shifting map of favors and plans presided over by the Great Khan, masterfully portrayed by Benedict Wong.
He commands the attention and respect of the viewer in the way his character commands the same from his court. In an ensemble of actors of varying ability, Wong stands tall; I found myself glued to my screen absorbing every second of his screen time. Without exaggeration, the show is worth watching purely for his performance.
All said, “Marco Polo” puts into perspective my dislike for much entertainment criticism: it often neglects the spirit of the work. “Marco Polo” is not high art; it’s somewhat inconsistent and uses some pretty tired tropes.
But it’s always good with enough moments of brilliance to hold its own, and it is an epic adventure as entertaining and fun as anything I’ve seen.
That is the spirit of the show: a grand epic. No moral, no message, just epic.
I will certainly be revisiting the court of Kublai Khan upon the release of the second season. I hope you will join me there.
