To be honest, I was really scared that the series is a huge disappointment after I read numerous reviews this morning of people saying that it's ludicrous and dull. Thankfully, it seems like these "experts" watch something completely different than I do.
"Marco Polo" looks great in its pilot, mostly by the great editing, cinematography and music. But the relatively unknown (I didn't know anyone) actors show their talent off as well. The plot is like I expected it to be (and as you've been able to see in teasers): Marco Polo and his dad are travelling to Mongolia and are meeting Kublai Khan there. He's keeping Marco, so that the dad can travel on the silk road. In the meantime, they want to conquer the south of China where the Song dynasty still prevails.
From what I know, the pilot is mostly true to the stories of Polo and of the Asian world. This semester, I attend a lecture at university about China and we did the history there, too. I haven't noticed a really big mistake yet - though we only did it superficially in the course, so I'm not a total expert either.
The only bad thing was the pace, everything, especially in the first 20-something minutes, felt rushed. I would have loved to see Marco's journey to Asia a bit more detailed (maybe over 2-3 episodes, it'd have been really interesting for sure) and not over a length of just roughly 15 minutes. However, I understand that the producers wanted to concentrate on the relationship between Polo and Khan.
So, overall a very nice start by the new epic series of Netflix, which is maybe the best series maker behind HBO already. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the first season. It'll most likely be a great time.
GRADE: B+ (Score: 82/100)