[The Continental: From the World of John Wick Review] A series that captures the essence but cannot be compared to the original

The Continental: From the World of John Wick A 3-episode series on Amazon Prime, set in the 1970s, tells the backstory of a hitman hotel. The main characters are Winston and Charon before they both take ownership of the hotel.

The Continental: From the World of John Wick Review (No Spoilers)

The series from Peacock, which Prime is airing, is a spin-off project loosely related to the original team’s work. It stems from the ideas of John Wick creators Derek Kolstad and Chad Stahelski but is under the creative control of Greg Coolidge, who is not a well-known name and lacks notable prior works. As a result, the backstory of Winston Scott appears to be rather ordinary, deriving its benefits mainly from the framework of the John Wick universe.

This series consists of three episodes, with each episode lasting over an hour, which is longer than most typical TV series. It seems to be an attempt to sell a longer runtime, resembling a deliberate attempt to mimic the format of movies. However, the content received is rather dry and unnecessarily stretched, with viewers gaining hardly any new information from it. Apart from the nostalgic atmosphere of the 1970s era, which gives the John Wick universe an old-school feel, it appears that the series primarily relies on external design. This may be considered somewhat disappointing.

The plot of the story revolves around taking John Wick’s current world back in time, with the introduction of new characters, Winston’s brother, and his family’s involvement, which was not mentioned much in the original. In the beginning, his brother is portrayed as a highly skilled assassin in the style of John Wick, showcasing various similar skills. He steals a gold coin pump from a hotel and is pursued by the hotel’s staff but manages to escape. Later, he ends up intersecting with Winston, who is forced to search for his missing brother. When they eventually meet, they join forces, leading to more complicated issues arising. Winston’s initial goal shifts to seizing this particular hotel, with a subplot involving a mysterious female detective also on the hunt for Winston.

Character shines most in the early parts of the story when Winston’s brother, providing an interesting perspective through the truly John Wick-style character. Although not quite comparable, he still brings a level of action and intensity. However, as the story progresses into chapters 2 and 3, focusing on the plan to take over the hotel, John Wick’s style almost disappears. In chapter 2, there are hardly any action scenes to be seen, and in chapter 3, during the hotel takeover, while there are many characters brought in to cause chaos, it turns into a somewhat clichéd action scene that lacks any creative ideas. The main characters, both the hero and the villains, follow the typical, predictable path, shooting each other in a straightforward manner. The action scenes become ordinary, and the characters in the team often survive too easily. However, these characters do not appear in the current John Wick series at all. This includes Winston’s Vietnamese sister-in-law and the skilled black siblings who specialize in martial arts, who were standout characters in this series.

What makes it feel good is the opportunity to see John Wick’s world in the old era, which is part of Lionsgate’s John Wick cinematic universe project, and it frames the series in a way that doesn’t conflict with future films. This makes the story a true origin chapter, with standout performances from key actors like Colin Woodell (portraying Winston) and Ayomide Adegun (portraying Charon), both of whom provide insight into how their characters came to co-own the hotel. Mel Gibson plays the hotel owner and delivers a formidable performance in his role, although he isn’t the typical boss character who has to fight with others.

In summary, it can be said that this series only captures the essence of John Wick’s world but falls short in replicating the quality of the original films.The action scenes are not good enough (Only Good first episode)and the storyline is not particularly strong. It attempts to be intricate but takes too long to unfold. The good aspect is that fans of the original films get to see various elements from John Wick’s 1970s world and the young actors Winston and Charon perform well.

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