Bullet Points: The Continental: From the World of John Wick
When it was announced some time ago that a mini-series was in the works based around the infamous Continental Hotel from the John Wick movies, I was instantly intrigued. As time went on and COVID shut the whole world down, I started wondering if The Continental would actually happen. Then after John Wick: Chapter 4 (which was the length of a mini-series) I wasn’t sure if I was quite ready for more Wick related content, despite being a huge fan of the franchise.
That doubt was quickly erased two weeks ago when The Continental: From the World of John Wick premiered on Peacock and I was immediately sucked in. Now that all three parts have aired, it’s time to share some Bullet Points from the World of Chris the Brain…
- Brothers in Arms: Episode 1 saw the past come back to haunt a young Winston Scott played by Colin Woodell (who looked the part of a young Ian McShane, but certainly didn’t sound like him). Winston found himself being forcibly taken from business he was conducting in England and brought back to New York by a man who took Winston and his older brother Frankie in… Cormac O’Connor played by Mel Gibson (who delivered an excellent performance in the series and to me was the MVP). Cormac runs The Continental and Frankie, who was still working for him stole the coveted coin press that was bestowed upon The Continental by The High Table and has all but disappeared, so Cormac wants Winston to find his brother and the coin press. What Winston ends up finding is his purpose in life after Frankie is killed… Winston is going to take down Cormac and take control of The Continental!
- Loyalty to the Master: The second episode of the series centers around Winston assembling the team he is going to need to take down Cormac… which includes a war buddy of Frankie’s and his Kung Fu sister, plus Frankie’s vengeful Vietnamese girlfriend. Winston also realizing that they could use an inside man arranges a private meeting with a teenage Charon (Ayomide Adegun), Cormac’s right hand man and not the most likely to betray his boss… Cormac meanwhile still doesn’t have the coin press and is being pressured by The High Table or more specifically the half-mask wearing Adjudicator!
- Theatre of Pain: It all led to an action-packed Episode 3 as Winston finds himself being hunted down by assassins working for Cormac including the creepy Hansel and Gretal as well as a police detective who has a past with Winston and Frankie. Winston is captured and taken to Cormac and that gets the ball rolling on Winston’s plan to take over The Continental by force… There was action in the previous two episodes, but it pales in comparison to the all out mayhem that is featured in Episode. The over the top action and violence is a big part of the success of the John Wick franchise and putting so much of that in the final installment of the series was the perfect way to cap things off and because of it, Episode 3 felt the most like the John Wick movies I have enjoyed so much.
- The Sights and Sounds: The series is set in New York City in the 1970s and The Continental does a wonderful job of transporting the viewer back to that time. First, with the gritty look that harkened me back to the urban action movies of the time like the original Death Wish. Second, with a fantastic soundtrack filled with pure 70s gold. And it is a real eclectic mix… Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love”… Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now”… ZZ Top’s “La Grange”… Tommy James’ “Crimson and Clover”… Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” and my personal favorite, “Fight the Power” by The Isley Brothers among the songs featured. Not surprisingly their are multiple Spotify playlists filled with the music from The Continental.
I would not be surprised if we got another Continental mini-series either picking up right where Episode 3 left off or maybe fast forwarding a bit and revisiting The Continental in the 1980s or maybe The Bowery: From the World of John Wick. There is plenty of meat on the bone for more John Wick themed projects without even needing to include the character of John Wick.
The series is not perfect, but I felt there was more good than bad and if you’ve enjoyed the four John Wick movies, you’ll enjoy The Continental. All three episodes are now available on Peacock here in the United States and on Amazon Prime in several international markets. But be warned, each episode is feature length. I assumed going in, that each installment would be around an hour, but the average runtime for the three episodes is 87 minutes.
