I don’t know man, Netflix is starting to kick some serious tail.\u00a0 TV show wise they are making a name for themselves.\u00a0 It’ll be interesting to see how their Marvel shows go.<\/p>\n
Anyway, their new joint is Marco Polo<\/em>.\u00a0 It’s basically the adventures of the white man in Kublai Khan’s court.\u00a0 Those of you who don’t know, Marco Polo was a Venetian who visited China around the time William Wallace lived.\u00a0 Other Europeans were there a little before him but none of the others wrote a book.\u00a0 So as far as the West was concerned for half a millennia, he literally wrote the book on China.<\/p>\n Marco is very young when he meets his father for the first time (returning from 18 or so years in the East) and stows away on his dad’s return trip.\u00a0 Their destination is Kublai Khan’s court.\u00a0 This is because they want his permission to trade on the silk road and the Khan’s writ extends from the Pacific Ocean to fucking Kiev.\u00a0 If you want to do business in Asia it’s by his say so.\u00a0 You might have heard of his grandfather, Genghis.\u00a0 These people conquered some shit.\u00a0 At the point when Marco and his dad make it over, Kublai is attempting to finish his conquest of Southern China.\u00a0 Marco’s dad manages to piss the Khan off and uses his son as payment for a trading license.\u00a0 Not sure how historically accurate that is but it’s a great kick in the nuts on the show and makes for good watching.<\/p>\n So Marco’s stuck alone in Mongol held China.\u00a0 Shit.\u00a0 This show is about his adventures.\u00a0 Of which there are many.\u00a0 Again not sure if this is accurate, never read Polo’s book.\u00a0 But it sure makes for some quality entertainment.<\/p>\n One of the best parts of the show is when the Khan instructs that Marco be trained in the ways of the Mongolian court.\u00a0 This mostly consists of various combat training and some calligraphy.\u00a0 His blind swordsman instructor is known as Hundred Eyes and is a hugely entertaining character.\u00a0 The diversity of the lands and people at play make for a huge variety of other problems to deal with.\u00a0 Everything from Russians to the cult of Hashashin.<\/p>\n Lots of fight scenes.\u00a0 Really good fight scenes.\u00a0 To compare with say Game of Thrones<\/em>; I’m not going to say it’s a better show but it has better fight scenes.\u00a0 There are no actors you’ve ever heard of.\u00a0 The only guy I recognized was the bad guy from the original Fast and Furious.\u00a0 <\/em>The guy that plays Kublai reminds me of an Asian Robert Baratheon closer to his prime.\u00a0 Not in his prime, but closer.\u00a0 Maybe a bit smarter.\u00a0 But he’s fairly charming in that whores and wine way.<\/p>\n Folks, this is mandatory viewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t know man, Netflix is starting to kick some serious tail.\u00a0 TV show wise they are making a name for themselves.\u00a0 It’ll be interesting to see how their Marvel shows go. Anyway, their new joint is Marco Polo.\u00a0 It’s … Continue reading