El Camino (2019)
Note: Spoilers for El Camino and Breaking Bad ahead
El Camino is a slightly difficult film to review. Like an old pair of slippers there is an inherent sentimentality and comfort to entering back into this beloved world created by Vince Gilligan. Breaking Bad is undoubtedly one of the best tv series of this past generation and so there is little doubt that all of its many fans relish an opportunity to get back to its story and characters. And with the show's creator, Gilligan, back at the helm for El Camino there is slim chance that any of the fans will pass up seeing how Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul's) story 'truly' ends.
Now, BB itself had a satisfying ending even with Jesse's somewhat open-ended frantic driving away into the sunset in the El Camino. And so one of my biggest gripes about Camino is that it is a somewhat unnecessary addendum to the BB story. The film is very much epilogue-esque and though it does give finality and closure to Jesse's story it is not altogether needed. However, as mentioned, returning to Gilligan's world is a pleasure to experience, and that pleasure is only amplified with all of the many cameos that serve as the flashback narrative-backbone of the film. The present day plot really is fairly bare; its new antagonists are not overly compelling but Gilligan still manages to craft some clever and suspenseful new sequences. The present day story also follows a similar thread to what we've seen in the past in the series, which adds a bit to its redundancy. Much of the appeal of the film is its retrospective and existential flashback scenes that return us to so many beloved characters and actors. Seeing Walt, Mike, Jane and Todd (along with many present day cameos) is a dream come true for BB fans. (I will add that it was a bit jarring seeing some of the flashback scenes with actors that have clearly aged. Now, I'm not criticizing any actors or anything but it is evident that over the past few years Jesse Plemons and Aaron Paul have put on some minor weight, so it was a bit odd to see these now-older/larger actors portraying younger versions of the characters...)
One of the biggest selling points for Camino has to be Paul himself. The performances were always one of the highlights of BB (including Paul as Pinkman) and this film is arguably Paul's best of the series. The path that Pinkman has gone down is clear and where we find him at the beginning of Camino is as a thoroughly shattered human being. Paul is visceral here and he brings everything he has to Jesse's fight for freedom. Additionally, like much of the series, the cinematography and editing are both also top notch here. While El Camino is not a necessary ending for Breaking Bad fans it does give some extra closure to the story of Jesse Pinkman. Its high quality attributes (acting, writing, directing) and memorable cameos make it a film worth watching for fans, though its legacy will likely not hold up to that of the core tv series.
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