In the first season, the costumes, props, special effects, and sound effects are all very accurate to restore the historical style of the year. These aspects are completely comparable to the strength of "Game of Thrones". But there are too many loopholes in the plot, which cannot be logically justified and divorced from reality.
Adaptation does not mean divorce from reality. The heroic deeds of Marco Polo are so centered that it makes him an unrealistic superman. In just three years, Marco Polo mastered a series of skills such as literature, Chinese, calligraphy, painting, cartography, martial arts, business, engineering, espionage, makeup, riding, bow and arrow.
In the play, Marco Polo's journey along the Silk Road in only 3 years is exaggerated. Including the forced connection of the Hassassin organization, which has been extinct for two hundred years, into the main plot.
The most exaggerated plot is that based on hearsay, he can direct Kublai Khan's engineers to build a secret weapon that was equivalent to a nuclear weapon at that time - the Trebuchet.
The adaptations of Jia Sidao, Kublai Khan, Zhenjin and others in the film are acceptable. Especially Kublai Khan, Zhenjin's father-son rivalry set off very well.
But the most controversial adaptation character in the film should be the second character under Kublai Khan - Hundred Eyes. Baiyan was originally a native of Mongolia, and was the main contributor to the overthrow of the Southern Song Dynasty. The film portrays him as a blind Chinese Taoist priest captured by Kublai Khan. Not to mention whether the original unparalleled magic can be maintained after being blind, just in terms of its motivation to help Kublai Khan, the adaptation of this film seems difficult to justify. It is also acceptable to become Kublai Khan's exclusive royal martial arts instructor. As a Han, helping the Mongols invade the Han empire, even participating in the assassination operation to overthrow the entire Han empire, and also leading the army to invade the Southern Song Dynasty, these are difficult to understand. This is not explained in the film.
In general, the quality of the first season of Marco Polo is quite high, and it belongs to the level of top TV series, but due to its poor script adaptation, the plot that is too unrealistic and out of reality, and the blunt understanding of oriental culture entirely from Wikipedia , making the plot of the play a major weakness.
View more about Marco Polo reviews
