The Continental

Synopsis

Watch as Winston is thrown into the shady underworld that he has a heavy hand in during the John Wick series and works to that The Continental and become the management.

Review

This miniseries is full of amazing fight scenes that make no sense, weapon damage that is beyond the realm of normality, and slower than the snail that has finally catching up to you. Just like the first Captain America with Chris Evans, the first episode is doing a ton of world building that really only make sense if you have paid attention to the John Wick series or rewatched it to get it's deeper stories. However, this doesn't excuse the additional layering, character creation/deletion, that do no support the continued story. Someone is going to be yelling that they can't use characters from the original movie since those take place today and this series takes place in the 80s. Generally I would agree with you, however there are some characters that could have been used and built up the story of who they are. A for instance of inconsequential characters/story lines that went too far and made the show too slow for most of it. There is a set of siblings that run a dojo (Unfortunately it isn't a "Mojo Dojo Casa House") and the local what I am guessing would be Triads are attempting to make a management change. One of the siblings knows the story of how there dad ran the dojo, the other doesn't. However, this story doesn't add anything to these characters in all reality. It created additional hurdles and forced character growth that could have been swept away like they did with the rest of the team and the show would have been better for it.

What this show does do well is the practical effects and the fight scenes, however both of these are riddled with things that go completely against what the original movies did so well. Examples, the gun fights are generally good and well done. A blend of the same serious and sometimes silly actions. However, when headshots occur that are not directly in front of the camera, the heads explode. It's like everyone is shooting anti-tank rounds out of crappy 80s pistols. Secondly, the reloads are non existent. This show went back to the classic action movie trope of no one reloads and shoots 1000000000000000000000000000000s of bullets before they need to. This is especially true for EVERYONE shooting an automatic weapon. Thirdly, there are two "bad guys" in this show that are twins. They might as well be Captain America's spawn mixed with superman because they can survive explosions, fighting multiple people at the same time (even one that has previously made mince meat of the groups of enemies they have fought), and lastly one turns into a damn spider. Obviously not in a witch like sense, but they way they crawl and bend on the ground. It was cool for a half second until it became the "Look at my final form!" type action you get in RPG video games.

As for the acting, the first episode is distracting in its backstory telling. However, in the second and third episode, I really feel like everyone fills in the groove, no pun intended since this is the 80s, of their characters and get better as the show goes on. The first episode feels like when a little kid wears their parents shoes.

My Rating

I love the John Wick series and the major complaints above about the fight scenes are a major departure that tank this show and what it could have been. By the end of the show I was enjoying and was looking forward to more story about Winston and how he dealt with the "High Table," but it ended in a good spot. Something else that does add to this show is the additional lore about the criminal enterprise and how it has existed since before the Roman Empire, and Winston merc'd an adjudicator so when they show up in the 3rd John Wick, he is very familiar with them. However, either this instance made the "High Table" make drastic changes to how they deal with things, or their protocols were completely ignored. These ups and downs add up to a confusing, but entertaining show. If you like the movie series, it is worth watching this 6 on a stretcher to learn more, but doesn't add anything of real value.

Parental Rating

Mom is 100% out. Blood, violence, and gore throughout the movie would make this unappealing to her. Language is there, but does not present in constant conversation in the same way that foul language in the original series is used for emphasis rather than conversationally. There is little to no sex or nudity. This show would be up my dad's alley for content, but I think it would be hard for him to get past the first episode. I mean my wife loves the John Wick series more than I do at times and she couldn't get past it knowing it was going to get better. So based on the rules, dad approves and mom rejects.

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