User reviews

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.

The Continental is an intense, Gotham styled dark Action thriller with similar feels we got from John Wick. Was quite good, but a little less than the expectations. Cinematography and the Deep Photography made it look cool.

One thing I liked about the John Wick Universe was no concept of Cops, making this universe more deep. But, The Continental brings the concept of the department of law, other than the uniqueness of 'High Table' only, which would make me deduct a star in the ratings.

Expecting some more kick offs from the Universe, and hope the others will bring more deadly Guns, ballistics and drama like the "Real John Wick Style"!

I don't know what people expect from this but I have seen many negative reviews and complaints. Going into it with an open mind I really enjoyed the first episode, people need to realise that this isnt the John Wick movies it's something different and not to compare them and nitpick every detail about the differences. This is a television show with a different story and different actors, you need to just enjoy it for what it is and have a good time watching it. So far the story is interesting and it's great seeing backstory from characters who aren't John Wick. I think this show has great potential and I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

"The Continental: From the World of John Wick" offers a tantalizing peek into the intricate world of the John Wick universe, setting its narrative in the gritty, vibrant 1970s. The series focuses on the early days of Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) and the iconic Continental Hotel, a neutral ground for the criminal underworld. Despite its ambition and intriguing premise, the series struggles to fully capture the magic of its cinematic predecessors.

The show excels in its detailed world-building, recreating the 70s New York aesthetic with impressive production design. The Continental Hotel, a familiar yet mysterious setting from the movies, is brought to life with a gritty charm, highlighting the darker corners of the assassin's world. The action sequences, a hallmark of the John Wick franchise, are choreographed with precision, featuring intense hand-to-hand combat and martial arts that are both thrilling and brutal.

However, the series falls short in several areas. The narrative, while rich with potential, often relies on familiar tropes and lacks the sharp pacing of the John Wick films. Some plot developments feel contrived, and the show occasionally leans too heavily on clichés. The character development, especially of supporting roles, is uneven, with some characters not given enough depth to make their arcs compelling.

The casting of Mel Gibson as Cormac, the Continental's ruthless manager, brings a significant star power but also polarizes the audience due to his controversial off-screen persona. Meanwhile, Katie McGrath's portrayal of The Adjudicator adds an intriguing layer to the power dynamics within the series, although her character's impact is diluted by lackluster dialogue.

One of the series' highlights is its soundtrack, which is filled with well-curated 70s rock tracks that complement the visual style. However, at times, the music overshadows the scenes rather than enhancing them, making the series feel more ordinary than extraordinary.

In conclusion, "The Continental: From the World of John Wick" is a mixed bag. It successfully expands the John Wick universe with its stylish portrayal of the 1970s underworld and delivers on action. Yet, it struggles with pacing and character development, falling short of the franchise's high standards. For fans of the John Wick series, it's a worthwhile watch, but with tempered expectations.

7/10.

I can't say I expected much from this series, but man did it exceed my expectations! Each episode is about 90 minutes, so it's basically like 3 movies. Not everything is spelled out in the plot right away, and you don't just get a huge exposition dump at any time. It's very clever with the information that it gives you and how it delivers. There is plenty of action, but there's a great story surrounding it. The action is well placed and not drawn out either. You don't get a 30+ minute drawn out gun battle that you get bored watching 15 minutes into it. The action drives the plot. It doesn't try to replace the plot. I highly recommend the series. I just hope it's released on physical media someday.

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.

Don't hate me, but what I enjoyed most about this first season of The Continental was the soundtrack and appropriate use of a song. It may be my age but I loved hearing Gerry Rafferty's "Right Down the Line", Harry Nilsson's "Without You", Santana, and especially Dinah Washington's "What A Difference A Day Made". In fact I am not sure that I have seen a song used as well as "what a difference" and "without you". As someone who listens to lyrics I really appreciated this appropriate usage.

Aesthetically the three episodes were absolutely beautiful with some really great choices made...although I am serious about my mind glitching occasionally between some of the 20's Art Deco style choices intermixed with the 1970's time period of the majority of the show. Overall, the sets were spectacular...I particularly liked the use of an old abandoned theatre. It added an interesting touch of macabre.

The acting was well done and I like the cast of characters that they have assembled...but really question the choice of naming the series The Continental as this is less of an origin story of The Continental Hotel or the High Table (which fans like my husband were really hoping for) and more of an origin story of how Winston came to be the proprietor of The Continental with Charon. Maybe the series should really have been called Winston.

I have always looked at the John Wick franchise as pure escapism with lots of violence and a rough plot where there are players in a game and everyone outside of the game. The Continental fit into this type of escapist entertainment and for that I highly recommend it. As a woman, I really appreciate that there are some strong female characters in a world that seems very male oriented...Mazzy, KD, Lou, Yen, Gretel, the adjudicator. It was nice to see them on both sides of the equation too(good and bad). I liked the circular storyline with KD's character, that gave season one something of a story. I was a little disappointed that Hansel and Gretel were not of a Germanic ethnic background...that would have been appropriate. I was grateful that we got a final glimpse of the adjudicator's face...adding to the victorious climax.

I thought Ray McKinnon was a real scene stealer as Jenkins and I really enjoyed his laidback southern character.

Overall I thought the three part season one was fun and entertaining, with a gorgeous aesthetic and soundtrack and just the right amount of action and story. I would definitely watch more and I recommend it to both John Wick fans and fans of fantasy escapist action series.

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.

I'll start off by saying that I'm not a huge John Wick fan. Okay, with that out of the way, I'll say that going in, I wasn't expecting much but in the end I actually liked it better than the John Wick movies. Maybe it's just Keanu Reeves I don't like but, this 3-part series was not only more interesting but also simply more entertaining to me. Although I couldn't find anything to support it, I really felt like I was watching a Tarantino film. Dark humor? Check. Graphic violence? Check. Dark, depressing sets? Check. Okay, so maybe it's not a Tarantino film but, it sure felt like one. A real good one too! The characters were well written and well acted. It had good pacing too. No, I wouldn't suggest it for kids but it was a fun way to spend a few hours. I will point out that the first episode is kind of slow but the rest makes up for it.

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.

Every scene is done in the dark! It's absolutely ridiculous to have to strain to make out each character. I don't know what they were trying to do but, it failed. Some scenes are so dark all you can see is shadows. I like the plot and learning how each character got their start but, the darkness is ruining it. I'm hoping that as the series goes on it gets better. If isn't enjoyable to strain your eyes to watch it. If it stays this dark throughout the series I will lower my rating significantly. Whomever thought this was a good idea needs to think again. I'm not the only person who feels this way. Everyone I've talked to feels the same way.

Pains me to say it as I was BEYOND excited for this show, before you start, no I wasn't expecting John level of action, but I was expecting a solid story and a good pace, I got half.

In basic terms. The show is about Winston, how he gained his position of the New York continental in the 70s. We get a look into the life he had and those around him, how they played a part in his rise.

The story was fine it's forgettable honestly, the action at times is good but my major problem is the pacing, this show is SO SLOW with little payoff as we already know the ending.

Quite disappointed unfortunately, don't see myself ever watching this one again, if your a JW lover it's fine to watch for the world, but as a casual viewer no point, could have been a good movie, no need for 3hr 30 minutes, 6/10.

I watched the first episode of the show, it felt like a no-brainer watching this series given how massive of a John Wick fan I am. The series doesn't disappoint, from the start you see glimpse of the cinematic themes and touches of John Wick all over it, and in spectacular fashion! It has more elements of black comedy as well, which meshed in perfectly to lighten up the mood. The characters are amazing, specifically Clinton (who plays Winston), and Mel Gibson (who plays Carmac), Mel especially excels in his role, with a subtle yet confident delivery of his lines that feels natural to him, his casting was excellent and it threw me back to his great 1999 film "Payback". Overall, the series seems very promising, and got me hooked instantly. I look forward to watching the rest of the episodes.

Note: many critics gave this a low score based on the industry's cancellation of Mel Gibson's career. Mel was fantastic here, and I wouldn't cast anyone in his place. Watch this series, it's really good.

This series is amazing and I wasn't expecting that.

It's brilliantly shot with superb camera work, well acted, particularly Mel Gibson, has a wonderful use of atmospheric music along with a great choice in songs (Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine is a standout) and carries on the great tradition of John Wick style choreographed violence.

What's not to like ?? I sincerely hope there will be more to come and I just don't get at all, the negative reviews.

It does help if you watch it with a decent sound system because to do otherwise would mean you're losing out. Even if you just use a pair of half decent earbuds with a tablet, you won't regret it I promise you.

I fully admit that the John Wick series of movies are in my top 5 All time favourite movies to watch The role of John Wick was tailor made for Keeanu Reeves! So when I heard of the. New edition of the story of the Continental and how it came into Winstons ownership I was extremely excited and thankfully I was not disappointed ! Mel Gibson as The previous owner Cormac was great and using the exact same settings made it so more special I feel like I know that Hotel inside out The actor who played Winston was also well chosen as was Charon. Mel Gibsons 2nd in command so to speak. It is entertaining and full of action and background stories and I loved it sad it was only 3 episodes ! Enjoy!

Loved the world building. Loved Period music. Love Period sets. All Stellar. The writing and plot progression is a problem. The plot suffers from contrived plot armor and plot conveniences in critical plot moments, which is sad as this could have become a GREAT TV experience. Instead of this becoming Wick Canon/Lore -This is "Meh".

The plot needed better story /commonsense/ sequencing interconnects, vs. Script convenience. The big example of this is the McConnor resolution scene where a supporting character appears out of no where without context to complete the main deliverable of the plot. This was "Almost" a great TV. Just because this is an action movie, doesn't mean it should not have a logical, world based plot.

The Continental is a relatively short series containing 3 episodes, but these episodes are about 1 hour 40 minutes long. The story progression through this time goes at a steady pace and introduces the characters well, these characters help move the story forward and provide the action for this series. Speaking of action, I found that the action was slow going at first (unlike the movie counterparts) but as the series progressed the action got bigger and bolder until the story and angst were resolved at the end. Again, the characters were very interesting to watch as they were all different to each other which helped move the story forward.

I found this series very engaging and fun to watch, I watched this with my dad as we are both big fans of the John Wick franchise and after every episode, we had theories where some became true and others didn't. I can definitely see us rewatching this series in the near future! I hope they add more to this series, I'd love to see how The Continental changes throughout time until the last John Wick is set.

The Continental and the story of the High Table should have been the focus of the series. The mystique/legend of the hotel and the secret organization that run it was what I was hoping to watch. Instead, we got the not so interesting story of Winston Scott. Not only was it a rather boring tale we're forced to endure so many new characters that no one cares about.

We get treated to the mandatory team of tiny but powerful girls who can beat up armies of Neanderthal men. We get a Chinatown community where Asians speak chop suey even though Chinese folk have been in America for more than 100 years. And yet, the Viet girl Yen cannot speak a lick of English throughout most of the movie is able speak American when needed.

Mel Gibson is the demented manager of the Continental and it as under his watch that the High Table's coin press was stolen which led the whole plot to unfold. His acting was horrible and just didn't suit the story or his important role there. The manager is unhinged and cannot be in charge of wiping his own derriere. The hipness of John Wick is missing in this series as are the ballets of fire fights and hand to hand combat. This series was strictly done by a lesser production crew and writing team.

The one person who's story no one asked for is what we got. They should have just called this "Winston Scott the story of a Hotel Manager." I guess the Continental just sounded better

2 stars for story association to John Wick franchise. Standing solo I would have given it a zero.

Don't get me wrong anything related to the greatest action franchise of our time catches my interest. Unfortunately, my fears after the trailer was released came true when I watched the first episode of the series. From everything involved with the storylines, the actors, the actual action just seems way more watered down and forced just to stretch out the franchise. What I really didn't understand is the lack of Mel Gibson, even though he is billed as one of the top actors, he's not in the first episode very much . A lot of the other actors feel very amateur, and there for the sake of variety. As for the action itself, it's the one thing that holds the series together because there are some pretty great visuals for a streaming series. Overall, maybe the rest of the series will prove me wrong, but I wasn't too struck by the first episode..

So first of all I'm so glad they have opened the door to other characters in the john wick universe. I like the fact that we find out Winston's back story and how his life began at the continental. The story line is really good. The acting is on point, The quality is great. The scenes seem to be right on point it definitely has the john wick feel. Gun and more guns fighting and more fighting. It keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting to see where we go next. The action is there, the story and people are there. Winston is definitely Winston I like that they stayed with his character usually actors try to switch it up but they stayed on point.

'The Continental: From The World Of John Wick (2023)' isn't bad, but pretty much everything about it is just a little bit underwhelming. Perhaps if it wasn't linked to one of the greatest action franchises of all time, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. Still, the mini-series suffers from a slow pace, an uneven narrative, an uninspired screenplay and a lack of truly noteworthy action (again, the bar is set higher due to its place as a spin-off from the 'John Wick' films). It has a tendency to introduce plot elements only to cap them off in a very rushed way or never really revisit them at all, and a lot of its narrative feels sort of unnecessary. It's almost as if the piece would have been better if it compressed its first two episodes into a single forty-five minute chunk of set-up, trimmed just a little bit of fat off the final episode and then stuck these two elements together to play out as a movie that could still have been shorter than 'John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)'. Instead, we get a lot of fluff that's interrupted by various spouts of generally compelling but also somewhat lacklustre action (it almost feels too choreographed, deliberately showy yet not refined enough to be so). It isn't exactly vital viewing, and it also suffers from the fact that it never really feels like a credible predecessor to anything 'John Wick' related (this Winston doesn't seem like the Winston we all know and love, for instance). There are plenty of good moments, though, and the overall affair is engaging enough to keep you watching. Mel Gibson is suitably unhinged as the piece's solvent-sniffing villain, and a few of the set-pieces are undeniably entertaining. The final episode is by far the best, which makes it arguably even more frustrating that we don't arrive at it sooner. Ultimately, this is a solid effort that wouldn't be as disappointing if it didn't tie itself to the 'John Wick' series.

This series actually is rather dull until the third episode. I feel it is a mistake to consider this the Hotel of John Wick, since it was under different management, and apparently different control by the High Table. Yes, it is a hotel that John Wick used, and all the dark aspects may be little changed, but it was not the Continental of Winston and Charon, although a young Charon was there with Cormac. It starts out with flashback of a very young Winston and his brother Frankie, desperately poor. We then find Frankie has something that the High Table really, really wants, and nothing is spared to find it, and Frankie is killed. After all, Cormac is given a deadline to get it back, and his life is at stake. This leads Winston to plot to kill Cormac. But that poses severe problems, since an attempt will result in allowing all the different guests of the Hotel to come out to defend it against the intruders once an alarm is pressed. And considering the guests the Hotel caters to, not a pleasant thing. So Winston needs to take on allies and have inside information. So the first two episodes lay the groundwork for how he hopes to do it. Anyone who knows anything about the John Wick franchise knows it was successful but episode three shows the approach, the setbacks and the cost in lives to do that attempt. And it delivers. And there is the apparent 'trademark' of not leaving any deaths in doubt, just as John Wick makes sure.

The first episode was an interesting opening, setting things up and giving a background into Winston and his brother Frankie. The 70s setting is really well evoked to the point of being quite startling for younger viewers. The soundtrack is particularly excellent and keeps the vibe upbeat and pretty fast paced.

I feel like the writing got a bit more slick in the second episode and that felt more engaging to me. Winston is a pretty compelling character with a degree of charm and depth, but Charon is the one who stands out so far. Gibson is so-so but the writing and ensemble cast make up for it.