‘The Continental’ Review: Adequate Action Doesn’t Keep Peacock’s ‘John Wick’ Spin-Off From Falling Flat

A prequel to the Keanu Reeves-led film franchise, the story drags a simple story beyond its limit over three 90-minute episodes

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Colin Woodell in "The Continental: From the World of John Wick." (Katalin Vermes/Starz Entertainment)

“The Continental” boasts that it’s “From the World of John Wick.” But the Peacock spin-off is thankfully uninterested in providing a microwaved version of the same story. Instead, the miniseries takes its cues from stylized crime auteurs, folks like Joe Carnahan or Guy Ritchie who have as much fun, if not more, with their eccentric character archetypes, rat-a-tat banter and bold needledrops as they do with any blood shed on screen.

But “The Continental” merely aspires to these authors of cinematic cool. And in its Icarus-esque reach, what it faintly grasps only reminds us how hard it is to make something look easy.

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