After four films and just over a billion dollars at the box office, it's easy to forget that "John Wick" wasn't supposed to be a franchise. The first film was sold as a revenge fantasy for “Marley & Me” fans who couldn't settle for a good cry. Its budget was modest, it accommodated a star that the industry considered in decline and co-directors with more experience behind the wheel than in front of a camera.
Even movie revenues, rather than adding up to the kind of bills that make studio bosses spin, were only considered above average. However, in each subsequent sequel the popularity of the armed widower skyrocketed. As more and more bodies fell to the ground, more and more dollars filled Lionsgate's coffers. John Wick's journey from obscurity to omnipresence was so unexpected that the third film functioned as a particularly morbid metaphor for dealing with newfound fame.
Creators: Greg Coolidge, Shawn Simmons, Kirk Ward
Stars: Mel Gibson, Colin Woodell, Mishel Prada
Wick became a franchise because of two essential factors, and despite a third. The assets are so obvious they almost don't need to be mentioned: Keanu Reeves may have let loose a few duds before donning Baba Yaga's bulletproof suit, but he's an irrepressible star His participation was (and is) critical, especially considering the demanding and fascinating stunt work demanded by former stuntman (and former Reeves stuntman) Chad Stahelski, whose approach to directing action scenes is the second key to the series' success (along with uncredited co-director David Leitch). But what each sequel had to overcome was its improvised cinematic universe. What was cool and mysterious in the first film (an underground world of assassins with their own currency and regulations) often seemed cumbersome and questionable as it was explained and fleshed out in each epic mission. Sometimes, what lives in our imagination is better than seeing it limited by reality.
He enters “The Continental,” a three-episode prequel series about the story of the assassin hotel. Stahelski and Leitch are on board, though only as executive producers, while Reeves couldn't even be cajoled into an honorary title, let alone appear for a cameo of any sort. No, “The Continental” is decidedly not a “John Wick” movie, but rather a less focused and oddly structured TV show that doubles as an overlong pilot and a completely unnecessary origin story.
The feature's first episode offers some tantalizing flourishes (and, frankly, any project that sees fit to cast Ray McKinnon as a wine-drinking sniper can't be all bad), but "The Continental" soon crumbles under its impossible burdens. The action is plentiful but can't compare, the storytelling is sloppy, beyond repair, and the vaunted myth-making, well, buyer beware.
At its core, “The Continental” tells the story of two brothers. Winston (Colin Woodell) and Frankie (Ben Robson) grew up on the mean streets of New York City, looking out for each other because no one else would. But after being scarred by a childhood tragedy, they grew apart as adults. Winston sells parking spaces in London and makes huge sums of money, but things are not so easy for Frankie. He spent time in the Vietnam War before returning to the United States and being imprisoned. Once out, the only job he could get was working for the man who ruined his and Winston's lives: Cormac O'Connor (Mel Gibson), a petty crime boss and manager of the Continental.
Cormac, who loves bad puns almost as much as snorting “medicine” from a towel, has an Irish name, wild Aussie eyes, and an on-again, off-again Brooklyn accent. He screams and howls. He threatens and curses. He bursts into fits of anger, often for no reason. He's a prototypical villain, with that demented extra dimension that only Gibson can bring, but watching Cormac is almost exactly like watching the worst version of Mel Gibson in real life; the version that he has read online and that he has heard told all over Hollywood. He is deeply disturbing, which works for the character but also against the show. (I don't think the creators wanted us to imagine Mel Gibson punching defenseless people.
Anyway, when Freddie steals a prized coin press, Mel... I mean, Cormac forcibly escorts Winston back across the pond to serve as bait for his older brother. The brothers must repair their relationship, mount a resistance, and survive an attack by attackers if they are to avoid further scarring at the hands of their oppressor.
The false themes of “The Continental” were echoed in “John Wick”: revenge, regret and the finality of important life decisions (embodied in lethal acts of violence). But he doesn't support them. "You know," Freddie says to Winston near the end of "Night One." “Sometimes you have to make decisions you don't want to [make] to protect the people you care about. Maybe one day you will understand.” Despite the weight of Freddie's words, delivered with the seriousness often given to a narrative's thesis statement, Winston's decisions in “The Continental” are all the ones he wants to make. He even turns to innocent people to help him with his chosen cause, despite knowing that they could, and probably will, end up dead. His narrative arc is not curved; It is not a “Wanted” bullet, but a blunt shot straight to the temple. And his cohorts aren't doing much better.
Given its brevity as a television season and its long development, I'm tempted to see "The Continental" as an outrageously long pilot. But that may be a generous read for a series in which so many characters are introduced, but so few are explored. While the “John Wick” movies loved to introduce new guests, like Donnie Yen's MVP Caine in #4 or fan-favorite Bowery King in #2, played by Laurence Fishburne, the series It doesn't expand the thought much beyond a bad movie. suitable wig.
Among the supporting regulars is Yen (Nhung Kate), Freddie's Vietnamese wife, who is the (stereotypical) silent type, even though several characters have a firm grasp of her native language. Little is known about her backstory before Freddie or her greater ambitions beyond him, which goes double for the mute twin assassins played by Mark Mushashi and Marina Mazepa. At one point, Not Mel Gibson refers to the duo as "the twins: Hansel, Gretel, whatever the fuck their names are," so he assumed those weren't their real names. Now, reading the press releases, I regret to report that I was wrong.
Miles (Hubert Point-Du Jour) and Lou (Jessica Allain) have the unfortunate task of defending their family's dojo in a post-Barbie landscape. Mishel Prada has an even thicker accent than Gibson, in addition to playing the precinct's first female detective... who also sleeps with her boss. Katie McGrath struts around as a judge on The High Table who doesn't do much behind wearing a mask over her mouth, hiding a hideous deformity that's macabrely mocked throughout the show. Finally, there's Charon, a role originated by the late, great Lance Reddick in the movies who has a backstory of his own here, played by Ayomide Adegun. I can't say these tribulations deepen our relationship with the character, but hey, it's nice to see how our favorite janitor met Winston.
For those of you tearing your hair out and screaming at the computer screen: “No one cares about any of this! Are murdered people really good or not?”, let me say: Meh. Since the first film piqued the interest of action junkies, Hollywood has tried to copy the slick extended shots and operatic brutality of “John Wick,” whether employing Leitch for fight movies like “Atomic Blonde” and “ Bullet Train”, or relying on its production. company for similarly-minded beat-em-ups like “Nobody” and “Kate,” or simply taking inspiration from the 87Eleven action team in movies like “Extraction” and “Extraction 2.” The best imitations apply a similar formula to an intriguing star, while the worst drown a slow death in visual effects and lazy jokes.
“The Continental” is more the latter than the former. The opening scenes play with bold colors and distinctive designs in a similar way to the movies. Albert Hughes, who directs the first and third episodes, delivers a handful of clever extended shots that combine practical effects with computer-generated imagery that deepens the frame. The opening heist is fun and the final shootout clicks. But most of “The Continental” is marred by too many shadows and too little reflection. As the action scenes pile up on top of each other, they become less distinguished, more generic, and inevitably boring. The lack of clear images is doubly frustrating, since part of what made “John Wick” so compelling was its commitment to clarity. The audience wants to see what's going on, not guess what happened when the lights went out.
So many sloppy divisions of what made the movie as special as “The Continental.”
Watch The Continental: From the World of John Wick 2023 Trailer
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