MovieChat Forums > El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) Discussion > I LOVE Breaking Bad, but this movie was ...

I LOVE Breaking Bad, but this movie was only... alright (spoilers)

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
21 replies | jump to latest

I try not to set myself up for disappointment, but I couldn't help myself. I've watched the entire B.B. series 5 times now over the years, and was very excited for this. I turned it on, got my snacks ready, tuned out any distractions and focused...

The movie was only alright. Had some decent moments, but if you've already seen the movie as I have you'll understand what I'm saying. It was VERY nice to see Jesse have a "happy" ending, but everything just felt too forced. The money scene, the standoff at the welding shop. Why was there even a scene with the hookers in it??? Just seemed to pad the runtime. Too much Todd. Bryan Cranston's head looked weird. Everyone was too fat. No Huell (probably still waiting). Ugh, I'm actually kind of depressed now that it's soaking in. This is the very last thing of B.B. that us fans will ever get.... Gilligan had 7 years to come up with a masterful movie and I feel let down.

Vince Gilligan is great at TV shows, but maybe that's where he should stay.

[–] winslow (1318) 5 years ago

There is still Better Call Saul

[–] ASACWHITE (411) 5 years ago

Yes I felt the same way. It was a bunch of small scenes with Jessy and most of the scenes were long and drawn out elborino

[–] olioz (3304) 5 years ago

There were some good scenes and overall I liked it, but it did feel dawn out in many places. Still I didn't want it to end, I guess it was just so good to see these characters and this world again.

[–] OldG (625) 4 years ago

I had the same feeling... I was really happy to be back woth those characters... Make another one and I will watch...

[–] fzane (999) 5 years ago

yes, it felt much like a double episode. i was hoping for more of a movie feel where so much happens by the halfway point, by the end, you feel like you lived a lifetime. why not make it an epic? like don't spend so much time on the minutiae, and maybe show some "3 years later" type clips instead. I don't know, it must be hard to make only TV shows, and then try to make a movie though. perhaps it would have been better to have more events, and stretch it into a mini-series of 3 or 4 double episodes like this. then you could really let it drag, but still make an epic tale.

[–] phifty2 (116) 5 years ago

It was very well done, well made...but felt unnecessary. At the end of BB I think we all agreed Jesse got away. How he did it, unless it had some spectacular story and character elements, is irrelevant.
But, whatever, some feel any BB is good and it didn't shit on anything that came before it so no harm done. That would be my review "No harm done."

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

The shape Jessie was in, mentally, physically and intellectually ( i.e. he was pretty stupid a lot of the time ) it was no sure thing that Jessie would have ended up all right, in fact, quite the opposite. It was a fair and useful touch to add this last epilogue to the story ... totally unlike the recent Deadwood "curtain call", which was all it was.

[–] phifty2 (116) 5 years ago

Whoa there. I was going to mention Deadwood in my post as a TV movie that did it right. I had no idea what was going to happen during the Deadwood movie. It seemed to exist as a device for telling a story rather than "remember these guys?" "Remember the guy who crushed up the mobile home? Well here he is"
With Deadwood I didn't know who would live, who wouldn't, where the story would end up, etc. El Camino was like "Yeah, that's how I imagined it."

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

I just feel like the Deadwood movie had no purpose and didn't add the story at all ... it was a curtain call.

[–] redban (5157) 3 years ago

My feelings exactly. The end of Breaking Bad shows Jesse driving away, screaming / laughing / crying. The scene implied that he was getting away; the audience was meant to assume he would live happily ever after. This film just didn’t add anything more.

It was a good film, nicely shot. But plot-wise, the movie isn’t essential viewing for Breaking Bad fans

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

> Bryan Cranston's head looked weird.

Yeah it did. I was not even sure it was supposed to be him, except that who else could it have been?

[–] AtomicReturns (1252) 5 years ago

I think someone on the subreddit for Breaking Bad confirmed Bryan Cranston was wearing a bald cap. Which would make sense, since it's not worth shaving your head just for a quick cameo and a day of work, and Cranston is still getting roles in movies (and stage work?)

That said, I actually thought it looked rather good considering his real hair is underneath all of that. Kinda amazing how they do that.

[–] brux (14666) 5 years ago

You are probably 100% right. They just plaster the hair down and set a covering in place over it and blend with make-up.

[–] mikehanlon (9) 5 years ago

not to mention that shaving his head would have tipped people off, and the movie was shot in secrecy

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Still though... his head looked weird af lol

also, Todd was fat as fuck and Jesse was much heavier than when he left the compound in BB originally. I understand everyone gets older but wtf is with Jesse Plemmons (Todd), he could stand to lose weight just for the health aspect, let alone how much he was in El Camino!

[–] BourbonKing (5612) 5 years ago

I though it was better than a lot of the final season episodes where Vince Gilligan was spreading that one nob of butter over an entire loaf of bread.

Many BB fans seem to forget the slow-burn effect that the final two seasons had with the audience and the criticism from fans and haters alike.

This movie at least brought conclusion to Jesse's fate, and maybe even a hint of something new in Alaska.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The series is completely done. No Alaska spinoff, nothing more.

[–] BourbonKing (5612) 5 years ago

good

[–] redban (5157) 3 years ago

Not completely done: there is still one more season of Better Call Saul

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

This confirmed to me how great Breaking Bad was compared to Better Call Saul. This movie had more tension and action than the 3 seasons of Saul combined. Gillian could have come up with an entire 10 episode season of Jessie escaping across america as far as I'm concerned.