★★★★
After escaping Jack and his gang, Jesse Pinkman goes on the run from the police and tries to escape his own inner turmoil.
Classification: 15
When Breaking Bad concluded in 2013 Walter White's emotional and destructive journey from chemistry teacher to drug kingpin had cemented the show's legacy as one of the greatest television shows of all time. While the spirit lives on in its prequel Better Call Saul the finale of the show left one lingering question which many viewers wondered would ever be answered.
What happened to Jesse Pinkman?
The last time we saw Walter's former partner in crime, he was filthy, brazen with scars and tears, screaming as he drives towards an unknown fate finally free from his tormentors; Todd Alquist and his neo-nazi gang who enslaved and tortured him into cooking crystal meth, and Walter White himself. Six years after the show's unforgettable finale Vince Gilligan delivers the final chapter to his epic with a film that focuses on the morality of Pinkman's character. Similar to the final two episodes of Breaking Bad which had Walter White reflect on the path he had taken which had led him to disaster, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is Pinkman's own introspective journey. Gilligan has his main narrative focus on Jesse's story immediately after his final scene but also using specific flashbacks to explores the most important relationships in Jesse's life. The flashbacks aren't just an excuse to bring back deceased characters from the show but to show how Jesse has evolved because of the path he has taken. The opening scene is a flashback between Jesse and Mike Ehrmantraut, it doesn't just function as an excuse for Jonathan Banks to appear in the film but to deliver Jesse and the audience a message of how your actions will always live with you no matter what you do to escape them.
From Mike's wisdom cutting straight to Jesse literally screaming in the El Camino escaping the neo-nazi compound, Jesse's mission is to escape from the torment he has endured. Gilligan's script builds its emotional drama from Jesse reflecting on what has been done to him while confronting what his life will become now that he is back in control. The key to the film is in Aaron Paul who delivers an incredible performance that covers so many layers to the character. Paul along with the whole cast guided by Gilligan's direction make El Camino fit into this universe perfectly, the essence of the show lives and breathes in this movie. For the audience the film truly makes it feel that only seconds have passed since the show ended, From Skinny Pete and Badger arguing over videogames to Jesse striking a deal with Robert Forster's "disappearer" Ed Galbraith nothing about El Camino is inauthentic to its audience or legacy.
While riddled with references, easter eggs, and cameos from the Breaking Bad universe, Gilligan wisely places them into his film to enrich the setting and inform the story and character histories. This isn't a sell-out tour, dusting off all the old props and actors to squeeze the last few dollars out of the franchise but a calculated and emotional story with Gilligan's signature vision guiding the audience. This is Jesse Pinkman's story, El Camino doesn't deliver any bombastic sequences of action and carnage from White's playbook of volatility but keeps with the spirit of Jesse's character. It continues the character's tradition of reflecting on his criminal and immoral actions and whether there is any redemption for him if Jesse can make peace with what he has done. A stellar way Gilligan allows this story to be told is not to have El Camino focus on flashbacks with Bryan Cranston's Walter White but rather explore the complicated relationship Jesse had with Todd in the interim of his capture and escape.
White's presence can be felt throughout the film, mentioned by news reports, pieces of dialogue but also Jesse's own journey. No character isn't aware of Jesse's connection with Walter White, their actions from Breaking Bad now infamous and well documented in their world and exacerbated by White's final actions that led to Jesse's freedom. The film explores a Jesse who is finally free from White's influence but examines the consequences of Walt's cruellest action towards Jesse: surrendering him to Uncle Jack and Todd. The flashbacks inform Jesse's plan in the present but give a more disturbing insight into Jesse Plemons sociopathic villain, as his chemistry with Paul makes their scenes a tense manipulation of emotion. Seeing Todd's modern furnished apartment and serene attitude towards violence displays the facade the character, that Jesse is at the mercy of a man who has no sense of morality. The flashbacks show how calculated Todd was in breaking Jesse, how he manipulated his mind through fear and kindness; a truly warped carrot and stick approach as Gilligan shows one fateful day between the two characters.
El Camino builds its story and conflict from the relationship between Jesse and Todd, by having Jesse slowly come back into himself. Their history informs the central antagonists but also Jesse's character arc in the film; as the storyline develops he begins to regain his confidence and cunning. The goal of the film isn't to kick start a whole new saga of meth cooking crime madness but to give Jesse Pinkman an ending not beholden to Walter White, to show him finally taking control of his own destiny. Jesse was never an innocent but the flashbacks of the film display how the character was impressionable, his world view shaped by confident characters such as Walt, Mike, Todd, and Jane. The Jesse of the flashbacks contrasts against the Jesse of the present immensely as Paul captures the weight of the pain he has endured. Serving a reflection not just for Jesse but for the audience on the history and legacy of Breaking Bad, the cost of bad decisions and the justifications behind them.
Gilligan's script and direction allow the characters to come back to life and allow the new additions to fit into the mould of the world especially well. Tom Bower as Todd's nosy neighbour Lou a comedic highlight of the film alongside Scott MacArthur's villain of Neil Kandy but its the work of Marshall Adams, Skip MacDonald, and Dave Porter that brings the world back to life. Cinematography, editing and score all bring the neo-western aesthetic of Breaking Bad back to its might with all of the iconic staples returning. Gorgeous vistas, POV camera shots, an epic montage and even a scene of characters eating breakfast have El Camino's mise en scéne never miss a beat to its origins. It doesn't feel like copying but continuation as Gilligan has the story mostly feature new locations or give new insight to previous Breaking Bad mythology.
A wonderful return for any Breaking Bad fan, El Camino makes itself necessary in how it concludes Jesse Pinkman's story. While certain viewers may find the ambiguity of his fate more exciting, Gilligan doesn't blunder the opportunity to answer his series final question and give closure to the character who was loved by so many. The ethos of the show was always growth, change, and transformation; how a good man becomes bad but as the story continued audiences realised that Walter White was always selfish and evil. El Camino is another story of following that same ethos but letting audiences see that despite all the suffering Jesse Pinkman is not a bad person, just someone who made bad decisions but seeks to change for the better.
For a glorious two hours, one of the greatest television shows of all time returned allowing audiences a goodbye they didn't know they needed not just to Jesse Pinkman but to the entire journey that brought him there.
Director: #VinceGilligan
Cast: #AaronPaul, #JessePlemons, #KrystenRitter, #CharlesBaker, #MattJones, #ScottMacArthur, #ScottShepherd, #TomBower, #KevinRankin, #LarryHankin, #TessHarper, #MichaelBofshever, #RobertForster, #JonathanBanks, #BryanCranston
Release Date: October 11th 2019
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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