High-Octane
Summary
The Continental: From the World of John Wick captures the crazy action and casual brutality of the Wick movies with a fun cast of characters and a final episode that is packed with neck-breaking action. I don’t love the portrayal of Winston as I don’t think he spoke anything like Ian McShane but Ayomide Adegun was perfect as Charon and the rest of the supporting cast were solid too. There is the odd pacing issue in the first episode and it could be argued a few too many characters but in terms of action this is first rate.
Plot: The Continental: From the World of John Wick tells the background story of how Winston Scott, in an alternate history 1970s, came to his position as proprietor of the New York branch of “The Continental” chain of hotels, safe havens for legal assassins on the grounds of which no business may ever take place. It explores variations on real-world events, including the Winter of Discontent and the American Mafia’s rise to economic power.
Review: When I came up with the idea for a spin-off for The Continental this wasn’t quite what I had in mind; mine was going to be to set just before the first movie where each episode would tell a separate story of the various hitmen in The Continental featuring the likes of Common and Adrianne Palicki who were assassins in the movies.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick is arguably better than my idea, so I’ll let it go… for now.
I’ll admit the first episode didn’t fully grab me; as I knew it was only a limited series I figured I would stick with it and I’m glad I did as the third episode (which is 99 minutes long) is packed with action with all the fights, brutality and shoot-outs you’d expect from the world of John Wick.
This being a prequel it tells the story of a young Winston Scott (who is played by Ian McShane in the John Wick movies) but I found Colin Woodell a little miscast as he has a broad American accent… isn’t Winston British? This character just doesn’t feel like Winston for me, but I eventually settled into this iteration and still had a good time.
The Continental does have some great supporting players with my personal favourites being Lou (Jessica Allain), Yen (Nhung Kate) and I thought Ayomide Adegun was inspired casting as the younger Charon. He actually captured the mannerisms and quiet dignity that the late Lance Reddick brought to the role.
Mel Gibson has rarely been more unhinged as The Continental owner Cormac who is one of the most vicious characters he’s ever played; at one point he beats an unarmed man to death with a golf club which is arguably the most disturbing scene of the show.
It doesn’t have the same visual sheen of the Wick movies going for a grittier 70’s vibe which works for this kind of story keeping the hyperreality out of it (for the most part).
I like how subtle the references to John Wick are without ever being too in your face while still letting the viewer know that this is still the same universe, just a different time period.
There are a lot of classic tunes used in the show and it works well in setting up the atmosphere and also gives a greater sense of crazy fun to the action.
This being the world of John Wick the action needs to be first rate and it doesn’t let us down. It’s as violent as you’d expect and like I said that third episode is just action movie heaven. The fights are well choregraphed, so we see everything that happens with one of my favourites being in a phone booth as the enclosed space just adds to the desperation.
The story is essentially a tale of revenge and hardly reinvents the genre, but as my local hitman says – “it’s all in the execution”. At times the pacing does drag a little, especially in that first episode but I was certainly never bored as it doesn’t go too long before there is a spurt of violence.
The characters feel like they mostly belong in the world of John Wick, and I especially loved the assassin twins with Hansel (Mark Musashi) looking hilariously like Lord Farquaad from Shrek.
Overall, The Continental doesn’t let us down when it comes to action and some crazy characters with the third episode the clear highlight; I’m not sure about the portrayal of Winston who feels nothing like Ian McShane’s hotel owner but it still has the huge bodycount and breakneck action we’ve come to expect from the world of John Wick.