El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, written and directed by Vince Gilligan, is a direct sequel to the TV series, Breaking Bad created by Vince. Starring Aaron Paul, Jonathan Banks, Matt Jones, Charles Baker, and a few other notable cast members from the series.
“One could.” “Put things right.” “No. Sorry, kid, that’s the one thing you can never do.” El Camino begins immediately after the events of the Breaking Bad finale. It feels less like a film and more a two-hour special episode epilogue. It’s not a necessity, but it gives Jesse a defined ending to his story while paying satisfying fan service and giving just a few more stories from the Breaking Bad universe. Like anything you can expect from the crew behind Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, El Camino is beautifully lit and composed, exceptionally directed, and purely entertaining. Vince isn’t likely to disappoint anytime soon, and while his feature debut doesn’t necessarily stand out as anything substantial, he continues to shine as a force to be reckoned with regarding top-notch storytelling.
“Dude, you’re my hero and shit.” The film is ultimately the road to Jesse finally making a clean start. After escaping the events of Breaking Bad, he’s on the run and strapped for the cash he needs to properly disappear. Structured around flashbacks of never seen before events from the Breaking Bad timeline the film leads Jesse from one location to another, one scenario to the next, trying to get to the conclusion of his nightmarish journey that started as an innocent meth dealer punk. There are a handful of cameos that will please fans, especially with some solid Badger and Skinny Pete love at the beginning of the film. Characters and references pay service to the fans, and the fans are the ones this film is really made for. There’s no catch-up for those unfamiliar with the many adventures of Jesse Pinkman. Those who aren’t die-hards have no reason to tread here.
“You’re really lucky, you know that? You didn’t have to wait your whole life to do something special.” The entire cast gives what they’ve always given before, and especially in the case of Aaron Paul the level is as high as it’s ever been. Nobody is phoning anything in, nobody is here just for a paycheck. The opportunity to continue to work within this universe under the creator’s guiding hands is reason enough for this fine cast and crew to assemble for one more joy ride.
While it’s not essential, El Camino’s purity is as high as anything one can expect from Heisenberg Vince Gilligan. For Breaking Bad fans only.
Watch El Camino via Amazon
