Merchant of Venice: My quick take on Netflix’s mega series “Marco Polo”
My first reaction after watching this well-made series was “Why it is not named as Kublai khan? – the great Khan of khan”. Maybe precisely this was the reason why I had not dared to watch it on Netflix because of its title earlier. This web series ticks all the checkboxes which I generally look for in a web series, a great story, fantastic cast, great production value (it matches the production value of Game of Thrones), amazing action, and rock-solid performances.
Let me confess that I had, rather I still have limited knowledge of history especially related to the central Asian belt, and the only thing I knew about Marco Polo was that he was had some connection to the famed silk route. While watching yet another fantastic series “Dirilis – Ertugrul (which is also available on Netflix) the protagonist Ertugrul has to face a very tough nemesis Noyan. This toughie is a “Mongol”, who is bothering the hero somewhere near Istanbul, that was the time I became more curious on how “Mongols could rule such a huge landmass from Mongolia to turkey”, hence wanted to know more about Mongols. Luckily this web series (Marco Polo) is all about Mongols and its ‘expansive’ mentality.
There are 2 seasons of 10 episodes each, available on Netflix and I found it as a binge-worthy series. It is brilliantly shot with lavish sets, beautiful costumes, great action especially the battle scenes, kung fu combats, and lots of skin show (hence beware of with whom you watch the series). I found the performance of Benedict Wong who plays Kublai khan as a top-notch performance all the main characters in the series were simply awesome. The plot revolves around Marco polo who is left as a prisoner in Kublai khan’s court and how he, later on, gains the trust and confidence of Kublai khan and becomes his man-Friday.
Kublai khan who has ascended the throne by force and bestowed himself the title of “Khan of Khans” in the process had bred many enemies within the Mongol clan and within his family too. Later on, the crusaders to are after Kublai as they want to spread their faith in the Mongol heartlands. Marco Polo helps him get rid of all his adversaries in these 2 seasons. The screenplay is filled with lots of drama and action which makes the series binge-worthy.
However I fail to understand why the series failed to leave its mark on the popularity scale-like Game of Thrones ( GOT was a fictional drama, while this one is a historical account, yet it failed), I am also reading the news that Netflix has called off making of season 3 (which would have shown the release of Marco Polo from Kublai court and he would have returned to Venice). Notwithstanding this news, I would strongly recommend watching two seasons if you love period dramas with huge production values.
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