What movie did you last see?

[Aractus]

Wow, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is terrible. Breaking Bad ran from 2008 to 2013 and was set in 2008-2010. Much of the film takes place in this timeline, and tells the story of Jessie's flight immediately after the Breaking Bad finale. It could have been successful if there was at least a decent story, but what betrays the film the most is its insistence on using Breaking Bad characters who no longer look or even act the part. The first failure here is Aaron Paul himself. I saw very little of Jessie in him. The worst returning characters were Charles Baker, Matt L Jones, and especially Jesse Plemons as Todd:





Plemons looks a good 15 years older - he looks 40 - and is a lot heavier than he was in Breaking Bad. His physical appearance in Breaking Bad was very specific - he had that youthful man-child look. He was 24 when he appeared in the final season. His physical appearance was tied to his character, Todd, - Todd was softly spoken, had a child-like curiosity, child-like obedience to whoever was his boss showing his deep respect for authority, he's respectful and loyal to whoever he serves. He's also a product of his uncle's gang, being a remorseless psychopathic killer who's capable of torture and murder for any reason, and he acts instinctively (but also at the will of his employer whether Walt or his uncle). Todd has a big part in El Camino and sadly this isn't at all the Todd we know, even leaving his physical appearance aside, his character is unrecognisable. It was a huge mistake to bring back Todd, and even bigger mistake to have Plemons play him - to role really needed to be recast, and to find an actor who understood the character. But really he shouldn't have been brought back at all - Todd appears only in Season 5 (both 5A and 5B) and he should have been left there.

Character criticisms aside, the film just doesn't tell a compelling story. It's bland. The stakes don't feel very high, there's no thrilling moments in it like there are in the series best episodes (for example Dead Freight), and it doesn't give a satisfying conclusion for any Breaking Bad character. The film overuses flashback scenes - really the focus on the past was a big mistake, it took away the ability to tell a more compelling story in the film's present. It should not have relied on so many Breaking Bad characters. The film should have picked up with Walt, and Jessie, in prison. That would have been a much more interesting story to follow which would have provided better opportunities than simply following Jessie on the run.