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Ghost Canyon

'Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Second Season'
(Tom Riley, Laura Haddock, Elliot Cowan, Gregg Chillin, Eros Vlahos, Blake Ritson, David Schofield, Lara Pulver, Hera Hilmar, et al / 3-Blu ray / NR / 2015 / Anchor Bay Entertainment)

Overview: Same Genius. New World. Florence is thrown into chaos in the wake of the Pazzi conspiracy and Leonardo da Vinci must push the limits of his mind and body to defend the city against the forces of Rome. When the dust settles, friends are buried and rivalries are enflamed.

Blu ray Verdict: Honestly, it makes me sad to give this show such a low rating, for when I started it, it seemed really appealing. The first episode was thrilling, full of events, very dynamic, but then the magic dissipated and it simply became another boring show I force myself to watch.

It is not historically accurate and you can see it from the first 10 minutes of that very first episode, but nothing is perfect, so I decided to go on. After all, this isn't a documentary. It's a TV series. But the main character is not Da Vinci. I'm not saying I expected him to be the perfect impersonation of the genius, but he has so little of the artist.

Some details are true - such as him being ambidextrous and a vegetarian -, but that's what they are, details. I hoped that this would be a slightly modified Da Vinci, just like BBC Sherlock is a different Sherlock Holmes, yet with traits of Conan Doyle's version, but they simply used the name to create a whole new character.

Although the plot could be really interesting, it is far too fantastic - baring deliriousness - and it just stopped capturing my attention. There are some anachronisms and mistakes that I really couldn't let go unnoticed and that was one of the things that ruined the series for me. Want an example? "Medici". Seriously, they couldn't get the family name right? Just go to Wikipedia and see the pronunciation! It made me cringe every time they said "Me'dici" instead of "'Medici", and I'm not asking them to speak perfect Renaissance Italian, it is a simple word that everyone heard at least once in their lives!

Firenze, however, is beautiful. When I first saw the scenery, I was dumbstruck: it is gorgeous! The clothing is, overall, pretty accurate, and I didn't find the acting as bad as some reviews suggested; it is actually rather good. But Da Vinci's hair. Oh my. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. It is so out of place, even though it looks good in the actor.

That all said, here in season two, Florence is thrown into chaos in the wake of the Pazzi conspiracy and Leonardo da Vinci must push the limits of his mind and body to defend the city against the forces of Rome. When the dust settles, friends are buried and rivalries enflamed. While the Medicis go to unthinkable lengths to deal with new threats, da Vinci continues on his quest to find the fabled Book of Leaves and uncover the secret history of his mother. He'll come to realize that he has lethal competition in his quest -- new enemies who may be even worse than the forces of Pope Sixtus. His search will take him to faraway lands and force him to reevaluate everything he knew about the world and his own history.

I don't want to discourage everyone from watching 'Da Vinci's Demons.' If you're up to fantasy and action, go ahead and watch it, because you will still enjoy it - for the most part. I learned to! The soundtrack is really great, it actually thrilled me when I was bored, but the soundtrack should make the scene more exciting, not provide all the excitement. Oh, and finally, did you know that the actual theme song of this series is like a musical palindrome. It sounds the same when played backwards?! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

New Sets
Creating the World
A Closer Look
The Journey Begins: Season 1 Recap

www.AnchorBayEntertainment.com





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