The Continental: Aus der Welt von John Wick

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.

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.

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.

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.

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"!