El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Dir. Vince Gilligan

USA

122 Minutes

2019

Starring: Aaron Paul (and others. . .)

***1/2/***** Six years following the conclusion to Walter White's (Bryan Cranston) story, Vince Gilligan believes to have enough story to justify an epilogue of sorts in the story of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), last seen blasting through a fence of a compound of Neo-Nazis on the way to (supposed) freedom. There was admittedly some skepticism at the announcement of El Camino, though arguably just the same amount of balking when Gilligan and Breaking Bad writer Peter Gould reunited to tell the prequel story of Saul Goodman, and, four seasons into that series, Better Call Saul remains one of the best shows on televisions. So perhaps Gilligan should be given a little wiggle room in trusting that he would not tamper haphazardly with his universe's legacy for no reason.  El Camino does indeed do what it sets out to: tell just exactly what happened to Pinkman following his escape and in his plotting the course for his next step. Gilligan does not get too dense or tricky with his narrative. It is a relatively simple story: a fugitive of the law attempting to get from A to B, from captivity to freedom. And he retains the general feel and rhythm of his series: lengthy conversations with a little bit of meandering  to their purposes, speedy and beautifully shot time jumps, and a careful consideration to the logic of each situation. As Jesse navigates through the ABQ over the course of thirty-six or so hours, he assesses his situations the way he observed (and participated) through his work with Mr. White, with each problem that he solves just leading to another, possibly more dangerous, one. While Gilligan is certainly meticulous in his survey of this worlds logic, there are admittedly a few items that feel like shortcuts, but this is understandable in the shift between long-form television and a self-contained two hour movie. While this is a feature debut he is still a bit bound to the rules and stylistic choices from the previous two series in an effort to remain consistent to their look and feel.  Naturally some faces from the series pop up, either in flashback or real time (eleven very recognizable ones sprinkled throughout, though careful viewers noted some very minor figures from both Bad and Saul). Some may consider them fan service, but (avoiding any actual names) Gilligan pieces them out in logical and thematic ways, some in flashbacks to provide some context and fill in some gaps to Jesse's situation (mostly relegated to brief moments during the series in an effort to focus on Walter White), and others that he encounters on his odyssey. Some are surprising, others not so much, but each one welcome. This conversation of "necessary" or "unnecessary" in reacting to the existence of El Camino is intriguing, especially in an era where studios eagerly want to fill gaps in efforts to build franchises wider and wider. Gilligan retains a mighty focus on his protagonist here, giving glimmers of the wider situation of his series through news reports and police presence, but very little is revealed outside of what he observes. His goal is not to tease ends to be tied up later on, but to maybe give a slightly nicer piece of closure for one of his outstanding (and surviving) characters. And, as a result, El Camino is a nice piece of work, an entertaining follow-up to a marvelous scenes, and a welcome return to New Mexico.  ​October 13th, 2019