The Continental

Being a John Wick fan I've been looking forward to The Continental ever since I first heard about it. Then after seeing the trailers my excitement grew even more. After watching the first few episodes I can absolutely say that The Continental has not only met my expectations but has exceeded them in every way. It's as fast paced and entertaining as the John Wick movies. Even though you'd probably enjoy this more if you've seen the John Wick movies, you don't have to have seen them to like this. The action scenes are as good as anything I've seen on tv. I can't stop watching this and know it's a limited series but I really hope they plan on doing several seasons of this because I'm hooked.

I'm blown away by how much I enjoyed The Continental. Like most watching this I'm a John Wick fan so I was going to watch this regardless but after the word of mouth on how good it is I couldn't wait. The Continental tells the story of how a young Winston and young Charon came to take over the Continental Hotel. It takes place in the 70's before they were ever even partners. There's also so much more than just these two, there are so many other interesting characters in this to hold your attention. This is show where you can just turn your brain off and get lost in this world. I recommend giving yourself a big block of time before watching this because you're going to want to binge this as quickly as you can. You won't be able to watch just one episode and stop.

Been skeptical/meaning to watch and it's a great take on the epic John Wick lore. Best aspects is the thrilling action, fancy scenery, and is fairly well made! I don't know why this was a mini series but I love anything one man army like and charming like this. I would say Keanu is better at Wick otherwise not to bad, Collin Woodell is great too and probably gets a lot better! Continental seems to be missing something not sure what I still like it for what it is although I haven't felt well lately so that's a little bit of it. The music is genius plenty of excitement and great vibes I'm sensing; solid experience.

It's decent show if watched as intended - prequel to John Wick's movies. Even so, it bizarrely gives John Wick level skills and power to a bunch of random and useless characters (basically everyone in the crew), who somehow almost all make it out alive in the end. The whole idea of this universe is that John is simply superior to a huge variety of enemies. The twins are by far the best characters besides young Winston and Charon and how can they possibly be defeated by irrelevant folks with superhuman resistance who literally pull off magic victories like John's? It was pretty clear the showrunners didn't want to kill them in the show, and for that they shifted the balance of skills which makes the show credible within its universe. Also some storylines were very strange for a show with this purpose (like the "Asian on Black racism"). Overall the 80s setting didn't benefit the ambiance which sufffers from this obsession of lower budget showrunners with playing songs every other minute, in a vibe that was so upbeat that felt like a movie about weed dealers in a nightclub than John Wick's characteristic somber and grandiose feel. All in all, it's not horrendous but you'll catch yourself rolling your eyes more than once during this.

Credit where credit is due, they nailed the JW atmosphere. Lighting, sound, fast gun-fu with the camera staying on the action. Good music, with a range of types which helps with the time setting. The opening action scene is a banger. Mel is under used, which is a shame. Winston doesn't feel like Winston, actor is too tall, but I get it, the leading man needs to be tall. The story is passable and builds nicely into the JW world mythos. Don't understand the need for sex scenes. Movies did fine without them. The detective story feels pointless. Just padding run time. The middle dragged because of these filler scenes, the episode would've been better paced without them. If you like JW for its world and action, you'll enjoy it. If not, it might be difficult to get into.