- Network: The CW
- Series Premiere Date: Aug 16, 2022
Critic Reviews
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You could say that Leonardo is a coming-of-age tale, but it’s also a murder mystery, a love story, and a study of genius all in one. Like the man itself, it perhaps doesn’t quite know what it wants to be.
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There is an attempt to psychoanalyse Leonardo, whose father abandoned him. But this feels like a quick sketch rather than the fuller portrait one of history’s greatest minds surely merits.
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The show’s failure and reluctance to dig into da Vinci’s personal life only underscores its shortcomings, making this portrait of the polymath feel more like a safe sketch than a masterpiece.
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The script is woeful. Half of the actors look absolutely stricken with horror and those who are giving it a good try – including the stalwart Turner – make you want to cry with compassion. The whole thing is paint by numbers and there are moments when all you can do is shake your head in disbelief.
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The drama sometimes feels like the sort of educational film they have on loop at museums, a kind of animated Wikipedia entry, with a script that prefers not to let subtext get in the way of straight facts.