Breaking Bad is without a doubt one of the, if not the, best TV series of all time. I loved every single moment of it, even when it broke me and its characters. It comes without saying that I was really looking forward to seeing its epilogue, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, but since I started my rewatch too late, I was able to catch up only on Wednesday, only to be left with a bitter taste in my mouth because, while it works as a farewell to the beloved character of Jesse Pinkman and Aaron Paul is as intense as ever, it feels like a 45-minute episode stretched to two hours, an overlong episode that we didn't really need.
Written by the series creator Vince Gilligan, El Camino picks up directly after the Breaking Bad finale, with Jesse (Aaron Paul) laughing as he flees Uncle Jack's compound. Unfortunately for him, the police are investigating the shootout that took place there and Jesse is named a person of interest because of his criminal affiliation with Walt (Bryan Cranston).
Forced to keep a low profile to avoid capture, Jesse seeks the help of his two close friends, Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker), to start clean and anew in Alaska. He has to scrounge up the money he needs to start over though, which is way easier said than done, and must deal with some horrible memories from his past he can't outrun.
Unfortunately, El Camino wastes a lot of time to focus on the latter and as a result, the film is largely just flashbacks that fill in moments of Breaking Bad that we didn't even know were missing but that we didn't really need — whenever Todd was involved, the film felt unfocused as it felt like the story was about him rather than Jesse. Those moments didn't really do much other than showing even more what a fucked-up psychopath Todd is — also, Jesse choosing pepperoni pizza over freedom, I'm not sure I know what that was supposed to mean. Those involving Todd aren't the only flashbacks that fail to add something to the story — Walt's is pure fanservice as it is Mike's (Jonathan Banks), Jane's (Krysten Ritter), and Badger and Skinny Pete's cameo — and there's one particular scene that, although tense and enjoyable, feels out of place — the western-style duel between Jesse and Neil (Scott MacArthur) probably needed more backstory on Neil to make sense. When the story is set in the present though, the film is very gripping and compelling and completes Jesse's story in a rather satisfactory way.
While the story is flawed, Gilligan did wonderful job with the characters, specifically developing even further Jesse. A broken man who's lost every single thing, hope included, Jesse is now, finally, on his own — no chemistry teacher who bullies him and tricks him into doing whatever he wants and needs, no loved ones to fear for; here's free. Except for the fact that he is a scared individual with a nightmarish past to deal with. This is when Aaron Paul gets to shows off his incredible acting skills and his ability to lead a film. With a performance that is stronger and more intense than ever, Paul captures the PTSD-suffering outlaw who has experienced almost all kinds of trauma perfectly; his is a heartbreaking, wrenching performance that captures the character's inner turmoil and desperation as well as your attention even, and especially, when not assisted by dialogue — Paul is truly excellent when it comes to non-verbal acting.
The rest of the cast provides Paul more than solid support, the standout without any doubt being Jesse Plemons. Although he looks very different nowadays — which was beyond distracting —, Plemons delivers an intense, eerie performance as Todd Alquist, the immoral, vile student Walt thought he needed. Surprisingly good and touching is Charles Baker's performance as Skinny Pete who brought me to tears.
Unsurprisingly, El Camino has gorgeous cinematography with plenty of beautiful and mesmerizing shots — the sequence shot from above of Jesse searching Todd's apartment is terrific —, Dave Porter's original score is as effective as always and Gilligan does a wonderful job at creating suspense and tension and establishing the right pace. Unfortunately, this is true only for the parts set in the present as the flashbacks are poorly paced and lack tension and disrupt what otherwise would have been a very smooth flow.
Forced to keep a low profile to avoid capture, Jesse seeks the help of his two close friends, Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker), to start clean and anew in Alaska. He has to scrounge up the money he needs to start over though, which is way easier said than done, and must deal with some horrible memories from his past he can't outrun.
Unfortunately, El Camino wastes a lot of time to focus on the latter and as a result, the film is largely just flashbacks that fill in moments of Breaking Bad that we didn't even know were missing but that we didn't really need — whenever Todd was involved, the film felt unfocused as it felt like the story was about him rather than Jesse. Those moments didn't really do much other than showing even more what a fucked-up psychopath Todd is — also, Jesse choosing pepperoni pizza over freedom, I'm not sure I know what that was supposed to mean. Those involving Todd aren't the only flashbacks that fail to add something to the story — Walt's is pure fanservice as it is Mike's (Jonathan Banks), Jane's (Krysten Ritter), and Badger and Skinny Pete's cameo — and there's one particular scene that, although tense and enjoyable, feels out of place — the western-style duel between Jesse and Neil (Scott MacArthur) probably needed more backstory on Neil to make sense. When the story is set in the present though, the film is very gripping and compelling and completes Jesse's story in a rather satisfactory way.
While the story is flawed, Gilligan did wonderful job with the characters, specifically developing even further Jesse. A broken man who's lost every single thing, hope included, Jesse is now, finally, on his own — no chemistry teacher who bullies him and tricks him into doing whatever he wants and needs, no loved ones to fear for; here's free. Except for the fact that he is a scared individual with a nightmarish past to deal with. This is when Aaron Paul gets to shows off his incredible acting skills and his ability to lead a film. With a performance that is stronger and more intense than ever, Paul captures the PTSD-suffering outlaw who has experienced almost all kinds of trauma perfectly; his is a heartbreaking, wrenching performance that captures the character's inner turmoil and desperation as well as your attention even, and especially, when not assisted by dialogue — Paul is truly excellent when it comes to non-verbal acting.
The rest of the cast provides Paul more than solid support, the standout without any doubt being Jesse Plemons. Although he looks very different nowadays — which was beyond distracting —, Plemons delivers an intense, eerie performance as Todd Alquist, the immoral, vile student Walt thought he needed. Surprisingly good and touching is Charles Baker's performance as Skinny Pete who brought me to tears.
Unsurprisingly, El Camino has gorgeous cinematography with plenty of beautiful and mesmerizing shots — the sequence shot from above of Jesse searching Todd's apartment is terrific —, Dave Porter's original score is as effective as always and Gilligan does a wonderful job at creating suspense and tension and establishing the right pace. Unfortunately, this is true only for the parts set in the present as the flashbacks are poorly paced and lack tension and disrupt what otherwise would have been a very smooth flow.
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