‘EL CAMINO’: A BREAKING BAD REVIEW

It may have been six years since the story of everyone’s favorite meth-slinging high school teacher came to a conclusion, but “Breaking Bad” is back once again for a Netflix original TV movie in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie.”

Which might not necessarily be a good thing, it turns out.

(Warning: The following plot description includes spoilers for the original television show.)

The film picks up immediately after the events of the final episode in the series. El Camino follows fan favorite Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul, after he has successfully escaped from captivity with the help of Walter White. Now Pinkman is on the run, evading police and attempting to start a new life for himself as he seeks redemption.

In classic Breaking Bad fashion, however, things are never as simple as that. Or are they?

Vince Gilligan returned to the director’s chair for El Camino and his prints are very clearly all over it, but this time around it feels as if those prints are less well-defined. On the whole, the movie stands out as another great, well-made addition to the world and story of Breaking Bad, but compared to the quality of the TV series, El Camino feels like one of the lesser episodes, at least in terms of its writing and intensity.

On the other hand, everything else maintains the high standards of the show, most importantly the performances. Paul puts on a truly Emmy worthy turn, along with Jesse Plemons as Todd, who is even more insidiously kind and naive than in the original show. Brian Cranston as White and Jonathan Banks as Mike also return for a couple more amazing – albeit very brief – scenes, reminding the audience what made them so captivating in the first place. 

Speaking of returning  characters, a good majority of El Camino actually takes place in flashbacks, primarily between Jesse and Todd. While these scenes are entertaining and wonderfully intense in their own right, it does leave the film feeling less like a movie and far more like an addendum to the final season, filmed six years too late.

The biggest flaw of this movie lies in its reliance on the TV show and its untimely release. Unfortunately for Gilligan, many of the actors from Breaking Bad are noticeably older, or simply look different from the time of their original performances, leaving this movie feeling somewhat cheap, and tacked on. El Camino in no way stands on its own as a film, and instead feels more like an additional two episodes that the creators forgot to release – a really interesting two episodes, but not a movie.

El Camino fails to push the story forward into any new or truly interesting direction, only providing a more defined ending for Jesse, wrapping up his character arc with a nice bow, leaving little-to-no speculation.

However, the quality of Gilligan’s direction, coupled with Paul’s stellar performance, makes this a must-watch for any big fan of the show – and only for those fans. 

Advocate Staff