John Wick is dead (at least for now), but the world surrounding the action hero isn’t. The latest spin-off of the original series follows a young Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) and documents the origins behind the hotel-for-assassins centerpiece during 1970s New York City. The mini-series has a notable Oscar Winner, Mel Gibson, with a cast of unknowns anchoring the early days of The Continental.
The mini-series has received a mixed response thus far. The rotten tomatoes score is nowhere near the John Wick films, with the lowest being the first movie. The world of John Wick itself has always been fascinating. Each film introduced an element that made this world more complex and unique, but that may ultimately be The Continental’s biggest downfall. Though it’s cool to explore the origins of such a cool premise, the mini-series leaves you feeling that you just watched a sub-par knockoff of the original series.
The Continental Is A Series You’ve Seen Thousands Of Times Before
The Continental is not a bad entry into the John Wick canon. But when you compare it to its movie counterpart, it’s certainly a bland addition to it. Winston Scott and Cheron are great characters in the original series. But there was never a need to explore the backstory of both men. There’s nothing particularly interesting about their world because this is a story arc you’ve seen in countless action knockoffs.
The story of how The Continental came to be is more of an intriguing facet. The story of the building itself and how a bunch of killers came together to form one of the most powerful communities is worth exploring. But under the eyes of Winston, it’s a mundane drama that centers around two delinquent kids who worked for the wrong man and are suffering the consequences for their poor actions.
Every one of the main story beats is predictable. There were highly absurd moments. One of the most notable ones was the deus ex-machina save during the fight between Lou (Jessica Allain) and Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour) against Hansel (Mark Musashi). In terms of the fights, there are exciting action sequences here, but they all have that, “been there, done that” feel. None of the action sequences particularly stand out as stylish and inventive such as its predecessors, though they’re still exciting in their own right.
The John Wick films themselves always had a layer of complexity to them. But the difference is that the movies didn’t try to explain every detail about the world. The story is fine with and without the action scenes. There are genuinely good moments within, but at the end of the day, following this story through Winston Scott’s eyes was quite hollow.
The Characters Are What Make The Continental Watchable
The characters are the true stars here. Unfortunately, Winston isn’t anything to write home about. Colin Woodell does his best with the character, but he often feels like a caricature of Ian McShane‘s performance. Cheron is in the same boat. Though Ayomide Adegun‘s performance feels more natural than Woodell’s, there’s just not much meat to his character when you peel back the layers. Perhaps it was Lance Reddick‘s incredible performance in the John Wick films, but the big interest in Cheron was the mystery surrounding the man himself. His stoic, yet caring nature made for a great balance of Cheron in the predecessors.
Though Winston and Cheron aren’t the best leads, it’s the supporting cast that helps them shine. Yen (Nhung Kate) is a nicely complex character who has some of the best fight scenes in the series. Her dynamic with the cast creates a nice layer of unpredictability because her arc is focused on revenge for Frankie (Ben Robson).
The Twins – Hansel and Gretel – are the most unique names in the mini-series. It’s not just their silent and odd-ball demeanor, but their mannerisms that make them stand out. Even their fights are different because their style is unlike anyone else. The Adjudicator (Katie McGrath) is also another compelling face. The big thing about these three characters is that there’s no backstory about them. That genuinely makes them unpredictable and frightening, something I wish the series relied on more for other characters.
Mel Gibson as Cormac is fine. He’s a boilerplate villain whose moves you can see coming a mile away. Miles, Lou, and Jenkins are in the same boat. The latter is quite a charming presence, but there’s not much else with these three. The melodrama surrounding Miles and Lou could’ve easily been taken out. KD (Mishel Parada) felt unbelievable at times. Her arc is sound, but it was disappointing how she was able to move in and out of the Continental with ease. Plus, I just didn’t buy that she was an elite warrior on the same level as the assassins in the building.
The Continental Is Solid Entertainment
The Continental isn’t bad by any means. The three episodes flew by pretty quickly and the action did keep me on my toes, especially in the final episode. Does it live up to the John Wick films? No. It’s highly predictable and the action isn’t anything memorable. But there’s a level of fun in exploring the origins of this world and the good supporting cast elevates this mundane mini-series.
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