The Continental Series Review

The following is a spoiler-free review of all 3 episodes of The Continental, the first is now available with the remaining 2 airing the next 2 weeks on Peacock in the United States and Prime Video internationally

Now through 4 films, the world within the John Wick universe is expansive, allowing for opportunities, be it film or television, to dive deeper into that universe and its lore to tell new stories that could hopefully stand on their own. When it comes to the film quadrilogy, there were plenty of stories that could be pulled out of it with perhaps that of The Continental and its history being the most interesting one. The aptly-named, The Continental or The Continental: From the World of John Wick, is a prequel miniseries tells the story of the titular hotel through the eyes of its caretaker, Winston. However, it didn’t quite start off that way. More of a Winston story as opposed to a Continental story, its faint connection to the John Wick universe and the tinges of familiarity that came with that are the only things that keep the series somewhat interesting. It is also worth mentioning that the series may take place in the John Wick universe but is not necessarily a John Wick clone as it leans more on its thriller side than its action side. That being said, viewers can expect action. While that style is there, it somehow doesn’t feel the same.

As mentioned, The Continental takes place in 1970s New York City where a younger Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) looked for revenge against a man named Cormac (Mel Gibson), the person responsible for ruining he and his older bother Frankie’s (Ben Robson) lives when they were younger. Coming from a rough childhood, Winston and Frankie has to essentially fend for themselves and in doing so, they were led to Cormac who became a father figure to them. A seemingly untouchable criminal kingpin and he head of the Continental hotel, he had the brothers do his questionable bidding but they were kids so they didn’t know any better. Though as they grew up over the decades since, Winston and Frankie became more estranged as each went their own way to make lives for themselves away from their unsavory pasts. In the end, it was only a matter of time until the two reunited as Winston found himself pulled back into the life he thought he left behind after Frankie stole a coveted item from Cormac. From there, it was compelling to watch Winston use his intelligence and resourcefulness in the face of the dangerous underworld of New York City as he looked to find his brother.

Lacking in the skills one would presumably need to live in this world, Winston simply had an uncanny ability to survive. Going for him was the fact that Cormac had a lot of enemies that he made over the years during his rise to the top, but that position at the top made him that much more difficult to target. Despite their estrangement, Winston wanted to protect his brother from Cormac and rekindle their relationship until things changed and a fire was lit under him as he rose to the occasion and firmly set his sights on him. Meanwhile, Detective KD (Mishel Prada) lurked on the horizon as she tried to break through the impenetrable wall that was The Continental. Where the series does falter is when it gets bogged down by new characters and character development to pad out the story as Winston went about putting a team together. Though there are several entertaining interactions to be had, these new characters are nowhere near as interesting as the familiar characters viewers remember from the film franchise like Winston and a younger version of Charon (Ayomide Adegun).

It should be clear to everyone where the series is ultimately leading to and that moment did not disappoint once the siege on the Continental began and the series became something closer to the John Wick films. in terms of action. While Winston had a plan, it was not easy as he and his team were faced with waves of opposition on the way to Cormac. A brutal and action-packed climax, it was also a culmination of all the other storylines and subplots. Whether or not it was successful relies mostly on the connection between viewers and these new characters but for the most part, it didn’t all work. Though they be may be expanded episodes, that’s generally happens when there are only 3 to fit everything in. Being a prequel creates an ounce of predictability as far as certain characters are concerned, however, the pre-established connections to Winston and Charon are one of the major things that make the series work, or at least until the ending but that could be attributed to wanting to wrap up the story neatly in 3 episodes.

The material may not have always been there but the best part of The Continental was its performances, led by Gibson, Woodell, and Adegun. While hammy and over-the-top, Gibson’s scenery-chewing performance as Cormac fits the world perfectly but he was merely riffing throughout. Though entertaining, it would have been nice to see more from him. Woodell captures the mannerisms of Ian McShane without becoming an impersonation of him as his Winston had a calm confidence about him that was fun to watch and flaws that made him relatable as he came into his own into the Winston from the film franchise. Along those same lines, Adegun captured the late Lance Reddick, using his range to give Charon more depth by pulling out some emotion from underneath his cold and calculated demeanor.

At the end of the day, The Continental does a decent job at carving a path for itself within the John Wick universe but packing in too much over a short period of time dilutes the experience. A longer series or a film would arguably have been the better choice.

still courtesy of Starz Entertainment

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.