The Gonger Reviews...El Camino

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)

Starring: Aaron Paul, Matt Jones, Charles Baker, Jessie Plemons, Scott MacArthur, Scott Sheperd, and the late Robert Forester.

Synopsis: When we last left our hero (or villain), Jessie Pinkman was speeding down the highway in a stolen El Camino, free from his Neo Nazi captures. What lays for him next? CRIME BITCH!

Cinematography: I’m thinking budget kinda hindered this one a little bit but I’m also thinking that never stopped them before. There is this cool top down thing of an apartment but its the only thing I can think of thats super cool. Its shot like a TV movie because thats what it is but Breaking Bad always had that cinematic element that transcended the small screen. I was hoping for more of those out of the box visuals and was a bit disappointed. 1/2

Acting: The Breaking Bad B team falls right back into there rolls with ease, as if the show never left the air. Paul is great as Jessie once again but I found he brought nothing new to the table. Maybe that was a good choice though as the series developed the character into what we see now. Makes sense. Plemons’ Todd is the show stealer here though. We know he is bad in Breaking Bad but he goes hard evil in this flick. Plemons is a great actor and I wish I’d see him in more stuff. Someone should give him a lead roll. 1.5/2

Soundtrack: Dave Porter did the Breaking Bad score and so he did this one too. Its very similar but less unique. You know that quick opener for the series like the back of your hand! I wanted more of that but I guess you only strike gold once. Am I being too mean to this flick so far? I did like it. Well lets carry on and see I guess... 1.5/2

Writing: Ok, here we go. Vince Gilligan is one of my favourite writers harkening back to the X-Files days. So why do I think the script feels laboured. Its written kind of like an anthology with Jessie going place to place solving problems using the past for clues. Really the scripts meat is the flashbacks with Jessie and Todd having a dark adventure together. Ah Gilligan is alright. I thought some stuff worked and other stuff didn’t. Such is a critics life. 1.5/2

Directing: Gilligan is a fun time director. He wants you to have a pleasurable experience while viewing his stuff. That works well for this flick too as we want Jessie to succeed. The only issue I have with it is its just too easy. Theres no urgency to the plot or the vision of the flick. I think Gilligan should have lit a fire to create more tension between the characters and the action because some of the bigger scenes kind of dragged for me. So if your into an easily watchable flick then tune the frigg in. Just know its no Ozymandias. 1.5/2

7/10 its a far cry from Breaking Bad but thats hard to make magic.