Review: 'Marco Polo' on Netflix is bigger, better as its AAPI actors take over

Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan and a cast of thousands in Netflix's "Marco Polo."

WITH VERY LITTLE fanfare, Marco Polo, the dazzling epic television series, debuted its second season on Netflix over the Independence Day weekend.

If you have been following the #OscarsSoWhite or #WhitewashedOut controversy and want to see more Asians in television and the movies, this series Asians and Pacific Islanders - thousands of them.

If you want martial arts, this show has the best one-on-one choreographed fighting since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

If you want palace intrigue, complicated plots, back-stabbing or ...

If you're just suffering from Game of Throne withdrawals, this is a story that satisfy that craving.

If you want beautiful women and studly men in your entertainment ... well, Marco Polo has one of the best looking casts on television.

Season Two of this remarkable undertaking is noteworthy in a few ways. Although the show is named after the Italian explorer, the Asian cast is getting the better lines and more air time. That means a bigger role for Benedict Wong's Kublai Khan, whose strong presence demands your attention in every scene he's in. 

The old wise monk Hundred Eyes is delivering some of the series'  best lines. His role is kind of like old lady Crawley in Downton Abbey, getting in zingers to keep the seriousness at bay.

Joan Chen's role has expanded to be more than a beautiful prop. Her character as wife of the khan now pushes the plot forward and she has ambitions of her own as one of the Khan's trusted advisers.

The addition of Michelle Yeoh to the cast as the mysterious warrior fighting for the last remnants of the Song empire gives another excuse for those fantastic acrobatic fights Yeo made famous in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

With the reduction of Marco Polo, played by Lorenzo Richelmy, to a side story instead of the main storyline, the entire story enters a grander scale allowing more interesting plotlines to be explored.

It would be advised to watch the last episode of season one to reacquaint yourself with all the characters. So much plotting is going on between the different factions seeking power, it is a little difficult keeping everything straight.

It says a lot of how we've been brainwashed but I almost expect the characters to speak in British accents because the Brits are so good at historical dramatizations. When some of the characters begin to speak in modern cadence and American idioms, the effect is jarring and out of place.
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WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD (Skip the next paragraph)

Don't mistake Marco Polo as a documentary. The writers take liberty with real history for the sake of drama, but that's OK if we're looking for an interesting story. Kublai Khan does not kill the child emperor of the Song Dynasty. But when it occurs in the TV series, it is a powerful, powerful scene.

All in all, the second season looks like an improvement over the first season. It is well worth giving it a second look if you were disappointed with the first season. It's a beautiful production with its exotic sets and costumes. Thanks to CGI we can now see long shots of the Chinese cities giving us a sense of life in that era. 

As viewers become more familiar with the vast array of characters, (a lot is going on)  and untangle all the little subplots, it should develop a stronger following. It is only too bad that because it is on Netflix, the viewership will never approach that of Game of Thrones.

Marco Polo could serve another role its writers and producers probably didn't intend. Because of the shift of attention away from the Venetian adventurer to the Chinese and Mongols, U.S. audiences can see the world from a perspective that is not exclusively Euro-centric and the history and culture of the world did not all emanate from the west.

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II, a cut below the original

Michelle Yeoh is back in the sequel to the long-awaited Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

"CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: Sword of Destiny" suffers from being compared to the original which won an Academy Award as Best Picture.

Since it was first announced several years ago, it became one of the most highly anticipated sequels for its legions of fangs the world over. Alas, it didn't reach the high bar set by the first film.

It has all the flash and dash of clashing swords, fantastic jumps and flips that introduced the Hong Kong-style cinematic martial arts to the mainstream audience,  as the original but it lacked the depth and presence a Chow Yun Fat and the lyricism and spirituality that director Ang Lee was able to infuse throughout the original.

Oh, the action that took your breath away in the original is still there. Yuen Wo-Ping, who did the action choreography for Ang Lee, is at the director's helm for this one. His forte is present in all the fight scenes, especially a almost beautiful battle that takes place on a frozen lake as the opponents glide through the fight as if they're in the ice dance competition in the Olympics.

Michelle Yeoh reprises her character Shu Lien, a panther-like martial artist with deep emotions that struggles to control. While Donnie Yen does well in the action scenes, he doesn't come close to matching Yeoh's complexity. Yen makes you appreciate gravitas and soulfulness Chow Yun Fat brought to his character. When Yeoh and Yen are alone with each other, Yeoh might as well have been conversing with a wall.

Promising newcomer Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Glee's Harry Shum Jr. brought some cuteness to their budding relationship and both did more than well in their fight scenes. Jason Scott Lee could not do much with his one-dimensional villain.The other characters were just archetypes with no real depth. I suspect those missing elements may have been left in the editing room floor to trim it to its 105 minute length. 

In this era of #OscarSoWhite, the talented all-Asian cast could have been the best example to bury any antiquated notion that an American audience always needs a white actor to relate to (ala The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise) for a film to be successful. My fear is that the less-than stellar reviews might reinforce that idea among Hollywood's studios.

The U.S.-China co-production was released on this side of the Pacific on Netflix and on select IMAX screens simultaneously. However, the movie was released in China a week earlier and is doing well enough financially to perhaps earn another sequel. The trans-Pacific partnership might be a harbinger of a growing trend but producers and studios shouldn't sacrifice quality for the sake of profit ... uh, wha'? Quality over profit? Am I dreaming?

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For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" unveils its first trailer

Michelle Yeoh returns star in "Croaching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny" on Netflix

AT LAST, the long-awaited sequel to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that mainstreamed the stylized kung-fu visuals popular in Asia, finally has a premiere date. The follow-up to the sword and sorcery movie is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny and its premiere on Netflix and in IMAX theaters is set for Friday, February 26, 2016.

Judging just from looks alone, this looks like a worthy successor to the motion picture blockbuster directed by Ang Lee and released in 2000.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny tells an epic story of lost love, young love, a legendary sword and one last opportunity at redemption, set against breathtaking action in an epic martial arts battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of the Martial World.

Michelle Yeoh will reprise her pivotal role of Yu Shu-Lien, who wowed us with her artistic  choreographed fights in the original epic that took place in ancient China. Can anyone forget that first fight scene from the original movie? It literally took my breath away. She is the only actor returning from the first movie.

The Sword of Destiny is directed by the renowned martial arts choreographer (The Matrix Trilogy and Kill Bill 1& 2) and director (Tai Chi Master) Yuen Wo-Ping.

Based on the acclaimed novel, Iron Knight, Silver Vase, by Wang Dulu (book 5 in the Crane-Iron Pentalogy) and written by John Fusco (Marco Polo) the new film has fantastic DNA. It is produced by Harvey Weinstein and Sarah Aubrey and executive produced by Morten Tyldum (Headhunters, The Imitation Game), Ralph Winter (X-Men franchise), Anthony Wong and Bey Logan (The Medallion).

Natasha Liu Bordizzo

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny also stars Donnie Yen (Ip Man 1&2, Monkey King 3D) as Silent Wolf, Harry Shum Jr. (Glee, Revenge of the Green Dragons), Jason Scott Lee (Seventh Son, Hawaii Five-O), Roger Yuan (Bulletproof Monk), Eugenia Yuan (Revenge of the Green Dragons) and newcomer Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

Can't wait!

'Master of None': Giving thanks to our immigrant parents

The TV parents were invited to dinner by their TV sons, Brian and Dev, in an attempt to learn more about them in the highly-praised episode "Parents" in "Master of None."

ONE NICE thing about staying home ill is that I was able to binge-watch television programs that I had missed. One of these is Master of None starring Aziz Ansari and co-creator Alan Yang - two Asian friends writing about, well, two Asian guys  - one Indian/American and the other a Chinese/American - hanging out in New York City waiting for life to happen to them.

If you haven't watched Netflix's Master of None you're missing out on one of the funniest, touching an honest shows on television. It hits on life's truths in touching, relatable ways and although it is from an Asian/American perspective, it has universal appeal.

Of the ten episodes of the first season, the one that convinced me of the unique qualities of Master is the one about parents. As the son of immigrant parents, it had me laughing out loud as bursts of "a-ha" moments relating to my own parents came through in rapid-fire sequences.

Apparently, it touched a nerve with a lot of viewers because that's the episode that got the most audience reaction.

“Yeah, it’s one of those things where we thought it was a special episode when we were making it, but we didn’t know it would have the response that it did,” Ansari told Entertainment Weekly. 

RELATED: Giving thanks to your immigrant parents

“It’s so nice to see all these people writing nice things about it and saying they relate to it. I have so many friends texting me that they were crying and now they’re calling their parents. It’s really cool. That episode was really personal to me and Alan Yang, and we’re glad it turned out well.”

"It’s a story about being grateful to your parents, no matter what their background was\," said co-creator Yang, who admits that the Brian character is based on him.

"Regardless of where your parents are born, chances are they made some sacrifices for you, and they took care of you, and they worked really hard. And that was something that really connected with me emotionally. It’s just something that I would think about a lot, and think about how amazing it was a struggle for our parents. That stuff is really real and a lot of those lines in those episodes really hit home for us. Because they didn’t get to have fun. They didn’t get to have fun! It’s a luxury that only we have—it’s true!"

Ansari cast his own parents in the roles of his TV character's parents. The stories about his parents told in flashback were true stories about his long road of immigrating to the U.S. and the discrimination he had to face. 

"So all that stuff about [Brian’s] dad reading the Economist and killing his pet chicken — all of that stuff happened to my dad," confirmed Yang.

In a Facebook post, Ansari wrote:

“Sorry if this is cheesy or too sentimental but if your parents are good to you too, just go do something nice for them” — wise words, even if you can’t get your dad on as a Colbert guest.

He says, “I urge you to work at it and get better because these are special people in your life and I get terrified when my dad tells me about friends of his, people close to his age, that are having serious health issues, etc. Enjoy and love these people while you can.”

If you're visiting your parents this Thanksgiving, it wouldn't hurt to tell them that you appreciate their sacrifices. And if you're one of those parents we're talking about, it wouldn't hurt to open up a little and tell your story.

RELATED: Tales my father never told me

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TGIF FEATURE: 'Master of None' debuts with Aziz Ansari

A NEW television show will debut today (Nov. 6) - Master of None on Netflix starring Asian/American comic Aziz Ansari. It just might be the best new sitcom of the season.

Ansar, best known for his stand-up and his turn as a small-town bureaucrat turned baller on Parks & Recreation, casts himself as Dev Shah, an actor fumbling his way through relationships, work and this weird thing we call life. (And, as the title of the show suggests, Dev's not exactly great at any of it.)

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In a recent ask-me-anything session on Twitter last week, Ansari revealed even more: Despite the description of the show he offered, the sitcom won't be based on his life - and it will feature cameos from his real mother and father. He also had some fun explaining how the show differs from both the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" and HBO's "Game of Thrones." Oh, and it also definitely won't be like "Parks."

Ansari also told Entertainment Weekly that Homeland star Claire Danes and Noah Emmerich, of The Americans, will turn up in one episode as a couple who aren't getting along with each other.

"I end up having an affair with Claire," Ansari teased. "It gets pretty intense."

Aziz Ansari

Netflix announced in April that it was ordering 10 episodes of a scripted sitcom from Ansari but didn't give much more in the way of details. Ansari wrote, produced and directed Master of None with another Asian/American, Alan Yang, who wrote for  Parks & Recreation.

Describing the new series, Ansari said, “In Parks, I was playing a character who works for the parks department; it was not related to me in my life. This is like dumping my head and my heart into a show…like stand-up.”

If the show is like his stand-up, it will be edgier and more in-your-face about the difficulties  of being an Asian/American in the entertainment business than the other television sitcoms with Asian/Americansn in the lead roles, Fresh Off the Boat and Dr. Ken.

In one episode he depicts the casting indignities a South Asian has to endure to play cabbies or 7-11 employees. 

In another episode, he draws up the guilt Asian/Americans feel when comparing their whining vs. the difficulties encountered leaving their home country and adapting to a strange culture. You may be laughing on the outside, but inside you're own guilt arises when you recall your own parents or grandparents' sacrifices.

INSTANT REVIEW (Nov. 9): Funny and touching. Asian/Americans and Millennials will relate, non-Asians might gain insight and perhaps understanding.