Rai_Actiene
Joined Jan 2013
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Rai_Actiene's rating
An interesting trivia about Hellraiser is that several of the later sequels (6, 7, and 8) were not intended at first to be Hellraiser films. They started as unrelated spec scripts that were eventually molded to (somewhat) fit the franchise. Other examples of spec scripts include 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Cloverfield Paradox.
The Continental feels exactly like that sort of script. On its own merits it's a middling action show, it gets 6 stars from me. Set design is good, it has a rather aggressive taste in music to set the 70s tone, and the action itself can be fun. Story is rather flimsy and it feels like they cared more for some of the side character's plotlines than actually cementing Winston's character.
It is not truly from the world of John Wick. It might try to be with cute material references to room numbers, cars, coins, and the High Table, but it could just as easily replace those in order to be molded into a prequel for Hotel Artemis. It has none of the spiritual gravitas that comes with the Underworld of John Wick, none of the reverence for rules nor the respect for other members. It doesn't have the mythological neo-noir style that elevated the films in the first place, that feeling that the Underworld was truly a place mortals could not tread, that the characters did not have ugly, normal lives outside of their Greek tragedy of a struggle.
Instead, The Continental is about regular, mortal criminals unrelated to John Wick's underworld fighting a pun-loving gangster and his circus mercenaries over a piece of fancy real estate as a pair of cosplayers watch from the sidelines, pretending like they rule some secret society that doesn't factor into the plot since most characters don't know or care about it.
The characters are petty, cynical, damaged people who do not seek any higher purpose beyond the material. Despite the drama it does not feel like the story wants to take things seriously. Mel Gibson's character especially feels like it was meant to be a joke, either on the actor or on the audience.
The Continental feels exactly like that sort of script. On its own merits it's a middling action show, it gets 6 stars from me. Set design is good, it has a rather aggressive taste in music to set the 70s tone, and the action itself can be fun. Story is rather flimsy and it feels like they cared more for some of the side character's plotlines than actually cementing Winston's character.
It is not truly from the world of John Wick. It might try to be with cute material references to room numbers, cars, coins, and the High Table, but it could just as easily replace those in order to be molded into a prequel for Hotel Artemis. It has none of the spiritual gravitas that comes with the Underworld of John Wick, none of the reverence for rules nor the respect for other members. It doesn't have the mythological neo-noir style that elevated the films in the first place, that feeling that the Underworld was truly a place mortals could not tread, that the characters did not have ugly, normal lives outside of their Greek tragedy of a struggle.
Instead, The Continental is about regular, mortal criminals unrelated to John Wick's underworld fighting a pun-loving gangster and his circus mercenaries over a piece of fancy real estate as a pair of cosplayers watch from the sidelines, pretending like they rule some secret society that doesn't factor into the plot since most characters don't know or care about it.
The characters are petty, cynical, damaged people who do not seek any higher purpose beyond the material. Despite the drama it does not feel like the story wants to take things seriously. Mel Gibson's character especially feels like it was meant to be a joke, either on the actor or on the audience.
The premise and story was fun, but the constant rotating pan shots took me out of the movie.