El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Here's a honest review. It's solid but not great. It tells the story of what happens to Jesse following the events of Breaking Bad and what he needs to do to try and flee the town. If you're expecting the high octane drama of Breaking Bad, it's not here. It's a suspenseful slow-burn that left me feeling like I didn't get what I was expecting. Cool little story about Jesse, but not the fireworks that is Breaking Bad. And definitely not a 10/10 that all these moochers are giving it.

For me this wat a bit of a flat movie. It is more of the same of breaking bad. Nice acting, nice scenes, some twists and humour. But I had no special feeling. Yes we know now what happend to Jesse, but did I really need to know? So the urgency to see this movie is not there for me. It is nice to know but nothing more.

That's how you need to look at this film, it's an epilogue to "Breaking Bad." Though not needed this film is a wonderful final journey for the character of Jesse Pinkman (and Aaron Paul at his best) as well as a good moment of closure for fans as well as Vince Gilligan. If looked at on its own you'll find a nice crime thriller with great undertones of drama, and that's all you really need from this story.

I managed to avoid the hype of this film; I did look forward to it, but it was only some time after release that I remembered it and sat to give it a go. I'm sort of conflicted by it, but generally I enjoyed it and appreciated it as an epilogue to the main series. The upside of it is that it does fill in blanks around a character, story, and world, that I'm already engaged in. It does this with the high production value and engaging style that Gilligan brings to his work, and he has a great eye for space and detail. Within this though it must be said that it could easily have been an hour to do the same thing, and even what constitutes events within this film, could be argued to be padding that doesn't add much. Certainly it is far from being the impressive expansion of Better Call Saul.

The style does help this, and it uses the long pauses and space well. Paul adds a lot too, turning in a great performance throughout and producing elements not in the dialogue. Even with this though it is not an essential film, and it is not one that can be watched without having watched the series - as it does rely on the viewer being already bought into it as a world, and already having affection for the characters. If you have this though, it is easy to overlook its weaker elements, and simply enjoy it for the confidence it has in itself, and its genuine interest in its characters.

Everyone thought that El Camino would be better or equal to Breaking Bad; but the thing is you can't surpass perfection. Breaking Bad is undoubtedly the best or at least one of the best TV series of all time. Just because it isn't better than BrBa doesn't mean it sucks. This film is Jesse's Felina. Wonderful cinematography, great acting, great directing by Gilligan and fan favorite characters return. It however has slow pacing but all in all is a solid film.