“The Continental: From the World of John Wick,” the upcoming three-part event series prequel set in the “John Wick” franchise, has pulled in mixed reviews today ahead of its release on Friday.
The series is sitting at 55/100 on Metacritic and 50% (6/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s little divisiveness here either with the majority of reviews either mixed or softly positive.
That’s a far cry from the four “John Wick” films which have all been critically acclaimed and have actually seen their aggregate scores rise with each entry. Here’s a sampling of quotes from the reviews:
“It’s fast-paced, ludicrous fun, with Purge-star Woodell full of dapper charm as the young McShane. But, for better or worse, the driving force is Gibson, who puts in his most over-the-top appearance since Mad Max. In the process, he transforms The Continental into a bug-eyed, b-movie cheese-fest hewn in his gonzo image.” – Randy Myers, The Telegraph
“As a pure continuation of John Wick lore, The Continental is a worthy watch, one that offers similar bloody mayhem to its predecessors in a new, wide-lapelled outfit. But it’s hard not to feel that the show, with its leaden pacing, convoluted cast of characters, and lack of a nucleus in a powerhouse figure like Reeves, comes up short compared to the film series it desperately wants to evoke.” – Clint Worthington, Consequence
“It’s all style at best, and no substance – even for a series that prioritizes bravura and flair over everything else. Ultimately, ‘The Continental’ is an adequate detour; just a linear connection-of-franchise dots explaining how Winston stole the keys to the house.” – Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
“It’s serviceable. Even with Mel Gibson involved, it’s not bad enough to hurt the John Wick franchise, but it’s also not exciting enough to justify becoming a key part of the canon.” – Sam Barsanti, The AV Club
“The Continental feels afraid to go all-out, limiting itself to a few thrilling action sequences whose creativity makes the sparse character motivations and drawn-out plot that much more belabored.” – Roxana Hadadi, Vulture
“Though it seems more a test of concept than a complete saga, it’s a tentatively successful one — though with one major misstep that’ll be enough to ruin the whole experiment for many.” – Angie Han, THR
“Despite being only three episodes long, The Continental is a slog that’s bogged down by poor characterization, brutal pacing, and extended droughts from its shootouts.” – Elijah Gonzalez, Paste Magazine
“Of all the reasons the ‘John Wick’ prequel frustrates, underwhelms and disappoints, the involvement of Mel Gibson barely manages to rank.” – Alison Herman, Variety
The three-part event sees young Winston Scott (Colin Woodell) dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind.
Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.
The series also stars Ayomide Adegun as the young Charon, Mel Gibson as Cormac, Hubert Point-Du Jour as Miles, Jessica Allain as Lou, Mishel Prada as KD, Nhung Kate as Yen, Ben Robson as Frankie, Peter Greene as Uncle Charlie, Jeremy Bobb as Mayhew, Ray McKinnon as Jenkins, Adam Shapiro as Lemmy, Mark Musashi as Hansel, Marina Mazepa as Gretel, and Katie McGrath as The Adjudicator.
Each of the three feature-length episodes will premiere on Peacock on Fridays starting on September 22nd.
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