El Camino Spoiler-Free Review

Disclaimer: This review contains minor details about the film, but nothing that would spoil the plot in any way.

I should say going into this, for the sake of fairness, that Breaking Bad is my favourite TV show of all time, hands down. I have watched it all the way through about 6 times, with various people, and have never tired of it. Similarly, Better Call Saul is possibly my favourite current TV show. For that reason, this review is probably going to be biased, but if you too are a fan of the show, then you shouldn’t have any fears going into this film.

El Camino is everything I wanted it to be.

To boil the plot down to its most basic, spoiler-free, elements, the film follows Jesse shortly after he has escaped from captivity, thanks to the final stand of Walter White in the series finale. The film picks up moments after the show ended, and finally answers where Jesse went next and what kind of a life he would lead. However, we do get a sense that he is entering a very different world, where remnants of Heisenberg, and the path of destruction he left in his wake, have been all but wiped out. I hesitate to say more, as someone who went into this wanting to know absolutely nothing about it, as I know others will feel the same way.

It’s rare that a movie like this comes along, in terms of its ambition, but also that a show which definitively ended just over six years ago can pick up right where it left off and have it feel completely natural and not to feel like a cash grab. As you’d expect we do get some returning characters, but it never feels like fan service, rather it serves the plot. The best way to describe this film, is as an epilogue. It doesn’t feel like a sequel.

First thing to mention here is that Aaron Paul is incredible in this, but was there ever any chance he wouldn’t be? Jesse Pinkman is the role he was meant to play, and it never felt like I was watching a different character than I’d grown to love years ago. Paul’s six year age difference between when Breaking Bad ended, and now, is completely unnoticeable, thanks in large part to the situation we find Jesse in. He is a man who has spent the last six months in captivity, being tortured emotionally and physically. When we meet him, he is a broken man, as could be expected.

For the most part, the rest of the acting is serviceable. Returning actors still provide their A-game, but I wouldn’t say any of the new additions particularly stand out. At times, the antagonists of this film, if you can call them that, felt a little one-dimensional, but maybe that’s because they aren’t given as much time to be properly developed, due to the limits of the format. Where Breaking Bad had 62 episodes to develop its characters, this has just two hours. And it isn’t a story of Jesse vs them. They are just standing in his way.

As expected, Vince Gilligan’s writing is impeccable. As with Breaking Bad, he manages to juggle scenes of high tension, with scenes of complete levity, often with some humour thrown in, in that way that only Vince Gilligan can do. He avoids falling into the trap of constant action and tension, because this film isn’t an explosive climax. In tone, it falls somewhere between Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. I know some people consider Better Call Saul to be quite slow, and I can understand that as a casual viewer it can feel that way. Hell, sometimes, I would sit there wishing Saul could just ‘pop a cap in someone’s ass’ and then ‘bounce’, as we had come to expect from Breaking Bad, but luckily, Peter Gould and Vince Gilligan are more mature writer’s than I would ever be.

There was one point in the film, almost right at the end, which I felt was a little unnecessary, but it is such a minor point that it really isn’t a problem, it just felt a little bit out of place. I’ll probably do some spoiler thoughts in the next day or two, once I’ve re-watched the film, to explain what I mean.

I should also say that the film looks fantastic. I had to turn off the subtitles which I would usually use on Netflix because I didn’t want to look away from the screen. The lighting is very effective, shifting between the dark corners of the Albuquerque streets at night, and the harsh light of the desert sun. Similarly, the locations are incredible. Setting the show in New Mexico was always a stroke of genius. The frontier feel of the breath-taking desert landscapes, mixed with the gritty urban maze of Albuquerque gave the show a very distinct look and that is carried over perfectly to its feature length counterpart here, with some really incredible scenery. The only thing I would have liked would be a couple of POV shots from inanimate objects, as we often got in Breaking Bad but that really is a point that only someone who knows the show well would ever remotely care about.

It’s unclear whether there will ever be more to this story. Personally, I don’t see any need for a sequel, as this acts as satisfying farewell to the show, which provides a healthy amount of emotional closure. I’d rather see other stories from this universe instead (obviously with some Breaking Bad references thrown in for good measure). Better Call Saul is yet to catch up with Breaking Bad’s timeline, and has been hinting since the first scene at some explanation of what happened to Saul after the fallout from Walter White’s actions, so we could see more of Jesse then, but I can’t see Gould and Gilligan throwing him in purely for ratings.

Overall, El Camino is a beautiful film. It is well-written and thoughtful enough for anyone who is purely here for emotional closure, and exciting enough for those who just want to tip off the edge of their seats. As Walter White said in the show’s first ever episode: “it is the study of change. It is growth, then decay, then transformation.” And it is fascinating frankly.