I’m not working with this guy. I’ve been there, done that. The minute he gets involved,you can kiss goodbyeto any finesse because She-Hulk hereonly knows how to smash. Yeah, Mr. Arson here only knows how to blow shit up.
When I was at the cinema with my family and close friends (with little kids in our company) and had to choose between “The Lion King” and “Hobbs & Shaw“, I was facing a dilemma. On the one hand, you have the live-action remake of a Disney classic with a story I know thoroughly (Not difficult when you have children and you’ve already seen the original cartoon a trillion times) but one I still love to see. On the other hand, you have an action movie with Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. And apparently, it has something to do with the “Fast & Furious” universe. The presence of Jason Statham was very hope-giving. I like Statham. His reserved attitude. That subdued calmness. That characteristic, juicy accent. And the explosive power that bursts out time and again. Well, apparently I’m a fan (even though I thought the movie “Crank: High Voltage” was absolutely worthless). Dwayne Johnson has surprised me several times in recent years. Especially with “Jumanji: Welcome to the jungle” and “Rampage“. Unfortunately, there are also a large number of crap movies in his filmography. But what worried me the most, was the “Fast & Furious” reference in the movie title. Not something that makes me feel excited. In short, it was a terrible dilemma.
A programmable super-virus.
Eventually, I opted for the Johnson and Statham movie, even though I knew I could give my brain to someone for safekeeping when entering the screening room. In other words, you let your mind go blank and certainly try not to get irritated because of improbabilities and absurd ridiculousness. And yes, the story itself is paper-thin and non-meaningful. You have the deadly, programmable super-virus “Snowflake”, the MI6 agent Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) who steals the virus from a terrorist organization and the bad guy Brixton (Idris “The Dark Tower” Elba) whose genetically manipulated body is crammed with high-tech trinkets. Compared to him, Robocop looks like a Playmobil toy. And wait until Brixton places his butt on an impressive motorcycle. A vehicle that functions autonomously, is immensely flexible and with which Brixton does inhumane acrobatic tricks. Batman, eat your heart out. These are the first introduced protagonists.
It’s not really related to F&F.
When will Hobbs and Shaw turn up? Well, when it goes terribly wrong. Let me reveal the main storyline. Hattie injects herself with the virus so Brixton can’t get his bionic hands on it. Brother Shaw (Jason Statham) is summoned to protect her. And he has to do that together with his arch-enemy Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). That’s it. Not a really impressive story, but enough to come up with an action-rich feature film. And this film certainly is action-packed. Fans of straightforward fistfights and flashy chases will definitely enjoy themselves. For them, this flick is worth a watch. I had to conclude that it didn’t remind me of the F&F franchise. Apparently, Hobbs and Shaw once appeared in this successful series. And yes, there’s the McLaren with which Shaw is racing through the streets of London. You have that impressive motorcycle Brixton uses to make the pedestrian crossings unsafe. And there’s even a moment when nitro is injected into the motor of an old-looking truck. But that’s the only thing that can be related to F&F.
Hobbs and Shaw bickering all the time.
The strongest point in this film is the interaction between the two main characters Hobbs and Shaw of course. Mainly because their personalities are the exact opposite. There’s the constant bickering and the sharp oneliners go back and forth. Not that I was laughing out loud all the time, but now and then some really comical situations caused a chuckle. For example, the scene where digital face recognition is an important issue. Hilarious. And Hobb’s derogatory comments about Shaws’ height are absolutely funny. Perhaps at some point, I had this “OK, it’s-enough-already” feeling. And the changeover from being arch-enemies to fighting buddies who respect each other was a bit too obvious. The action part also reached a saturation point after a certain time. It’s always fun to see how Statham, with the help of a number of random objects lying around, eliminates a lot of opponents while Johnson uses his impressive muscle mass to beat them to a pulp. But at a certain moment, the over-the-top feeling is a bit too much.
Although exaggerated, it was fun watching.
I really had fun while watching this movie. That is, three-quarters of the film. Even though it’s sometimes extremely exaggerated and unbelievable. Unfortunately, the absurdity grew to such an extent that I couldn’t suppress a “Yeah, right!”, while shaking my head. The movie dropped to a dubious and worrying level the moment the three heroes arrived on the island of Samoa, home of Hobbs. The improbabilities followed each other at a quick pace, with a showdown between Hobbs and a helicopter as the highlight. And the famous motto of the three musketeers, “One for all, all for one”, is being clarified in a grotesque final. Just one small thing to mention. There also two guest roles for both Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. One role equally meaningless as the other. Even though I had my doubts and prejudices, “Hobbs and Shaw” succeeded in presenting an entertaining and fun movie after all. And when I left the cinema, I neatly asked for my brain. I still need it for other movies in the future.
Ever since Lionsgate greenlit this series in early 2017, fans of the franchise have been eagerly anticipating to see how the John Wick universe expands. 4 movies in, the John Wick franchise is widely known as one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time with our titular character (a.k.a Baba Yaga) becoming one of the most iconic and bad-ass figures ever in Hollywood. The Continental: From The World of John Wick is a prequel series that tells the story of Winston Scott and how he became the manager of New York’s The Continental branch.
The miniseries was developed by Greg Coolidge, Kirk Ward and Shawn Simmons. It is executive produced by Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Derek Kolstad, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, the director of all four John Wick movies. It is structured as a 3-night event told through three 90-minute episodes. The series was originally supposed to air on Starz, but the network sold it to Peacock in 2022. After 6 years in development, it finally aired on Peacock this September.
A lot has been made of the subtitle of the project ever since it was announced. The fact that the makers needed to include it says a lot about the show. It almost felt like the prime marketing asset for it many times as the other promotional material didn’t necessarily create a lot of hype for the show. Albert Hughes directed the first and third episodes, while Charlotte Branstrom directed the second, and disappointingly both directors do not bring the same novelty or creative prowess that Chad Stahelski managed to bring in the John Wick movies.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
The show also surprisingly lacks any real star power. This franchise is one of Lionsgate’s most prized assets, so you would imagine that they would make sure to get a big cast and crew for this prequel miniseries, but they didn’t. Colin Woodell as Winston Scott is the clear standout among the cast despite delivering only a decent performance, which says a lot about the acting standards in this 3-episode miniseries. Many have criticized the casting of Mel Gibson in the series, but I personally had no issue with his performance and he’s also the most recognizable member of the cast despite having no real audience pull anymore.
The writing doesn’t offer too much to ponder upon or any seriously shocking turns in the story as most of the focus is on making the product as epic, badass and action-packed as possible. Some of the characters had some interesting layers to them, especially Charon (Ayomide Adegun) and Lou (Jessica Allain). Lemmy (Adam Shapiro) provides some much-needed comic relief with his witty dialogues. The structuring of the story works really well as a 3-night event which sets the high stakes and sets a standard of intensity for the narrative.
The Continental [credit: Peacock]
But the thing that people were most looking forward to, was the action and how it fared against John Wick. Unfortunately, that department was inconsistent as well. Ben Robson’s fight sequence in the early part of the first episode was great and it makes you optimistic that the action would get better from here on, but it never does. Most of the action blocks here involve explosions and guns rather than the hand-to-hand combat John Wick franchise is known for. Some of the action was awesome and some of it sadly wasn’t.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick brings a lot of glamour as it tries to expand its world but fails to engage with its paper-thin plot. The characters are mostly dull with a formulaic villain and misses the presence of a magnetic protagonist like Wick. A prequel about Wick’s backstory would’ve been much more interesting than this inconsistent prequel event saved by its style and some great action. It has almost enough to be its own thing but doesn’t quite have enough to match its parent movies.
The Continental: From the World of John Wick premieres on Peacock in the US and Prime Video in the UK and Australia on 22 September, with new episodes weekly.