3 out of 5

Directed by: Vince Gilligan

An appreciated, if not really necessary, coda to Breaking Bad, ‘El Camino’ picks up right after the series’ conclusion, and essentially removes the ‘what happens to Jesse?’ question… at least until El Camino 2 wants to show us the epilogue to the epilogue.  Which, to be fair, could very well be a companion series to Better Call Saul, with the heavy lifting of getting Aaron Paul’s character from A to B taken care of by this movie.

If that sells El Camino more as an interstitial adventure than a standalone film, well, yes.  This Breaking Bad movie is really just an extended episode, with a large explosion thrown in for some cinematic flair.  It’s a well directed episode, but it does show the effects of padding, with several repetitions of Jesse sneaking away from pursuers at just the right moment whilst trying to procure the goods he needs to set himself up, safe and clear, while the police pick up the pieces of the conclusion to the original show.  It’s wonderful to see Jesse Plemons and others back (and of course, we can forgive the changes time in the real world has enacted on the actors), but it’s hardly anything that adds to our knowledge of these same characters, or shifts / enhances our perceptions of the series.  It’s not a redemption story; it may even be a little shallow in how it treats Jesse’s potential PTSD over his capture and torture.  But as a consolidation of what might’ve happened over several episodes, and as a confident return to one of the few untouchably great worlds offered up during the kickoff of the ‘golden age’ of TV, El Camino is definitely enjoyable.

And I’d certainly be on board for an El Camino 2 or a Better (something) Jesse series.