The Continental: From the World of John Wick (2023)

“The Continental” is a miniseries that acts as a prequel to the ‘John Wick’ universe, focusing on the character of Winston, played by Ian McShane in the films.

The series is comprised of three episodes of 90 minutes each, allowing it to be evaluated both individually and as a whole. However, when considering the total, it feels like those 270 minutes are left over.

The miniseries has a feel reminiscent of 1970s Marvel comics, evoking titles like “Sons of the Tiger” or “Iron Fist.”

The African-American protagonist evokes Misty Knight, while we also find a somewhat crazy Vietnamese woman and several Vietnam veterans who seem to have escaped from an Italian action movie of the time. All this contributes to a very comic book atmosphere.

On the opposite side, the villains also look like something out of a comic book, such as the Chinese antagonist or the peculiar-looking twins who seem to have stepped out of “Matrix”.

The twin, in real life, is a Ukrainian contortionist who makes the most of her flexibility. On the other hand, Mel Gibson stars as the main villain, enjoying every moment in his role, which turns out to be completely unhinged and histrionic, almost like a character from an Almodovar movie. When he uses a golf club, he seems to have some progressive journalist in mind.

On the plus side, the world presented in “John Wick” is perceptible, albeit set in 1970s New York, which is well achieved. The characters of Winston, Charon and Comark are well developed, although I think the latter could have had more development.

The plot trigger is interesting, and the story that motivates the main characters is solid. As for the fight scenes, they work well, although they don't reach the levels of the “John Wick” movies, but they are still satisfying.

However, there are elements that are not so positive. There are too many secondary characters whose stories fail to capture our interest, which brings me to another problem: the length of the series.

Regarding the Continental, the facilities of the famous safe house from the “John Wick” movies are well set in that seventies era. However, I was expecting it to have a more prominent role or for the story to focus on its founding or something similar. I have a feeling that this aspect could have been explored more thoroughly.