Title – El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

Director – Vince Gilligan (feature debut)

Cast – Aaron Paul, Jonathan Banks, Matt Jones, Jesse Plemons, Charles Baker

Plot – After the events of the Breaking Bad finale, Jesse Pinkman (Paul) finds himself on the run from law enforcement, criminal gangs and his own inner demons.

“Sorry kid, that’s the one thing you can never do”

Review by Eddie on 24/10/2019

Is El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie necessary to the universe of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman? Absolutely not, but for diehard fans of Vince Gilligan’s beloved series that changed the TV landscape for ever, this Netflix released feature will provide a solid reason to jump back into the world that so many adored for years on end.

Kicking off mere minutes after the events of the much talked about Breaking Bad finale have taken place, El Camino offers the series unsung star Jesse Pinkman (and it’s award worthy actor Aaron Paul) a chance too hog the spotlight as we follow the unfortunate soul on his quest for freedom from the events that have shaped his life for the worse.

Taking place over the space of a few days, El Camino is a small-scale and character driven piece, those seeking action aplenty will be left disappointed and those that have never seen Breaking Bad may as well give this film a wide berth but for those that found themselves hooked by Walt’s and Jesse’s wild ride in the criminal underworld, they will be happy to know Pinkman remains a likeable presence in a landscape inhabited by mostly horrible people.

While his career has stagnated somewhat in the year’s since the Breaking Bad conclusion, Aaron Paul doesn’t miss a beat in his return to the role that will always define his career.

Pinkman has always been a person with many flaws and unfortunate character traits but as always Paul manages to instill him with the right amount of humanity, smarts and heart and that is once more the case in El Camino as Pinkman battles his inner demons as he comes across some familiar faces in Gilligan’s film that will give long term fans a real kick.

Virtually focused on Pinkman’s fast-paced mission to escape the country, the scope of El Camino doesn’t extend out too far but there are moments within Gilligan’s film that will cause white knuckle tension, some innovative camera shots (a birds eye few of a house sweep or transition from getaway to video game particular highlights) while the inclusion of Jesse Plemon’s despicable Todd (who steals the films best scenes) and the hilarious Badger and Skinny Pete played by Matt Jones and Charles Baker give the film some fantastic added charisma that enlivens the otherwise slowly paced and particular plotting.

At days end, we could’ve happily gone on without knowing more particular details of Pinkman’s escape from the life he created for himself in Breaking Bad but El Camino is still a worthy addition to a series that had many highs and gives Paul more chance to show us all what a fine actor he can be when given the right material to work with.

Final Say –

Not a must-watch for Breaking Bad fans, El Camino is more of a nice bonus to the world many grew to love and a chance to say one more farewell to one of the great TV characters of our generation.

3 ½ Tommy Hilfiger products out of 5