El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
Every summer I try to watch a big tv series that I have missed and a few summers ago that series was Breaking Bad. I immediately got hooked on the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his journey from high school chemistry teacher to the leader of a meth empire. When they announced that they would continue the story of Breaking Bad in the form of a movie I got nervous, the ending was such a perfect conclusion to the show and gave every character a satisfying point to end on. Despite my nervousness, I had faith in Vince Gilligan to do the series right and when they announced the movie would revolve around Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) I was a bit more ok with the idea. Where I do like where we leave Jesse in the original finally having escaped his captivity and driving away towards freedom that he more than deserves he is one of the only characters left where it felt like there was more to his story. The series finale of the show was very much the first chapter in a new part of his life and choosing to focus on him in this new part of his life seemed like the smartest move they could make in continuing the story of Breaking Bad. In El Camino, we follow Jesse in the direct aftermath of the events of Felina as he tries to find a path to a new life when the entire world is on the lookout for him.
Starting with the positives the easiest to see is Aaron Paul. He was one of the best parts of the show and he hasn't lost an inch of talent here. Jesse is in an interesting place between finding freedom and power while also still suffering from the horrors he has had to endure. This is not an easy performance to give as Jesse Pinkman is also a character with a certain charisma to him and where the script doesn't do a great job with this character the performance by Aaron Paul really nails it. He gives such an emotionally rich and captivating performance that gets you fully behind this character and his struggles as you just want this character to truly find the peace and happiness that he has had stolen from his time and time again. Like I said though overall the script when it came to this character is one issue I had with the film. The actual aspect of him being haunted by his past is very on and off, it is strong in the beginning but very quickly it seems like they abandon that to allow Jesse to be more of a badass which feels like a mistake. Sure he still carries a pain with him which is mostly seen through the emotional intensity that Aaron Paul carries in his performance but very quickly to get rid of the PTSD aspect of his character feels not only weaker but distracting when you really think about it.
I think the script overall though is definitely one of the weaker parts of the film, one of the worst parts of the storytelling in the film is the heavy reliance on flashbacks. There is a way this movie could have used flashbacks to enhance what we are seeing to add context to this character but they have so many flashbacks that don't add anything to the movie that it just felt distracting and honestly boring. The main point of a good amount of these flashbacks is to grow sympathy for Jesse which is completely undeeded as we already are heavily behind this character coming out of the show and even the small amount of flashbacks which actually help fuel the plot like showing why Jesse decides to go to a certain location go on for way too long. The only reason I think the movie decided to use such long and frequent flashbacks is that the story it wanted to tell simply lacked the substance needed to create a full feature film.
I think the script overall though is definitely one of the weaker parts of the film, one of the worst parts of the storytelling in the film is the heavy reliance on flashbacks. There is a way this movie could have used flashbacks to enhance what we are seeing to add context to this character but they have so many flashbacks that don't add anything to the movie that it just felt distracting and honestly boring. The main point of a good amount of these flashbacks is to grow sympathy for Jesse which is completely undeeded as we already are heavily behind this character coming out of the show and even the small amount of flashbacks which actually help fuel the plot like showing why Jesse decides to go to a certain location go on for way too long. The only reason I think the movie decided to use such long and frequent flashbacks is that the story it wanted to tell simply lacked the substance needed to create a full feature film.
Sadly the story they choose to tell taking place directly after the finale feels super unneeded and uninteresting. Instead of jumping into the future and seeing Jesse start his new life this focuses on the specifics of how he maneuvered life in the days after the finale which is something no one really needed. The ending also comes off as completely flat as the conclusion of the movie nearly perfectly matches that of the show but is just way less effective. Where the story and content of the film overall felt disappointing to me I will say the actual filmmaking behind it is really solid which should come as no shock to anyone who watched the show. Marshall Adams does the cinematography and absolutely kills it creating some of the most interesting and effective shots of the year. The movie's editing also carries a wonderful sense of intensity to it.
Overall though I left El Camino feeling more disappointed than anything, they could have really added something to the saga of Jesse Pinkman and done something special but instead just created a bland and unneeded plot that at the end of the day did nothing for me. I wouldn't even say its too far of a stretch to say that in the context of Breaking Bad this takes away from the emotional impact of the finale. This takes the mystery and openness of Jesse Pinkman's future away for nothing notable or impactful. If you just liked the tone of Breaking Bad and want to see something of similar style and intensity this will give you that, but from a story standpoint, this is definitely a big step down.
Overall though I left El Camino feeling more disappointed than anything, they could have really added something to the saga of Jesse Pinkman and done something special but instead just created a bland and unneeded plot that at the end of the day did nothing for me. I wouldn't even say its too far of a stretch to say that in the context of Breaking Bad this takes away from the emotional impact of the finale. This takes the mystery and openness of Jesse Pinkman's future away for nothing notable or impactful. If you just liked the tone of Breaking Bad and want to see something of similar style and intensity this will give you that, but from a story standpoint, this is definitely a big step down.