Spoilers El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Yeah, I was especially bummed out by Robert Forster's death (fucking cancer!) because I was just thinking after watching this film that he was due to show up on Better Call Saul. I imagine, if they hadn't already shot anything for season five, that they'll handle Jimmy's meeting with Ed offscreen. Perhaps Jimmy hears about him and tries to track him down and has a one-sided phone conversation with him. That or Ed has a partner who Jimmy interacts with instead.

 

[bigdaddy]

Unless it's someone we have seen, but didn't know they were a partner, I'm against new random partners showing up.

*Looks at you Jurassic World 2...*

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Yeah, that's a fair point (particularly the example). I'm sure Peter Gould will figure out something clever.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It seems to me like Ed was going to come into play for Nacho’s fate. It is something Nacho clearly wants that would explain why Jimmy felt comfortable blaming Nacho for things when he met Walt.

(“It wasn’t me, it was Nacho!” - Yelled by Jimmy to Walt in his first appearance when he thought he was being executed)

If that’s true, he’s integral to the story and might be recast.

 

[Severed Heads]

It's a real shame about Robert Forster.

When I first heard about the film, I wasn't completely convinced it was something I needed. Now that I've seen it, I was so very wrong. It's a very strong 8 from me.

El Camino is an epilogue for the show, and I loved every minute of it. The flashbacks to different parts of Jesse's life were a hoot. The one at the end with Jane seemed to get to me quite successfully.

 

[Mojochi]

Well, I enjoyed watching it. It was a well played vignette, albeit a rather superfluous piece of storytelling. It kind of reminded me of a feature length version of something like a tv show webisode. You know, one of those things that wiggles around in the gaps of our main story?

The narrative really didn't need this. The final shot of Jesse wildly driving away, in the last episode, spoke visually to all of this already, and was rather brilliant in that it did so with just that. He's free. Every last detail about how he became free? not as important imho, as the journey to him being finally free.

You didn't need to see Walter's death play out, & you didn't need to see Jesse's life play out. Walter had a well deserved death coming, & Jesse had a well deserved life coming. Walter went bad, & Jesse went good. Spelling it out like this kind of syphons off a bit of the dramatic impact the show left is with imho

Plus... they waited too long. Plemons does not look like he did on the show... anymore, but it gets a passing grade for entertainment value, & who can complain about getting to see Robert Forrester one last time?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This also eliminates any expectation of Jesse meeting Gene.

I disagree it was superfluous. Jesse got to say goodbye to his parents and let them off the hook to not blame themselves for his life going wrong.

 

[Saul]

It's an alright movie. I think that it wasn't a story that was needed to be shown but I'm glad I got to see the details of Jesse's escape.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

The movie had a different ending in an early draft, but thankfully Peter Gould and Holly Rice convinced Vince Gilligan he was out of his mind:

I love ironic twists. Once I had set about coming up with this movie, for the longest time, I had it in my mind that the thing we wanted most to see was for Jesse to escape. And the thing he wanted most to do was escape. So I was trying to concoct a plot in which, hero that he is, he saves somebody else — somebody I would have introduced as a new character into the movie. Because he’s such an innately heroic character in my mind, he saves someone at the end of the movie and he willfully gets himself caught knowing that it’ll save this other person. At the end of the movie, he’d be locked in a jail cell somewhere in Montana or someplace. And he would be at peace with it. It was all this very interior, emo-type, very dramatic stuff.​

 

[Push The Button]

I watched it tonight, it was good. Jesse has a real chance to be happy, where Saul is just miserable in his new life.

It was great to see Bryan Cranston play Walt again, almost certainly for the last time, even if only for a few minutes.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

It was great to see Bryan Cranston play Walt again, almost certainly for the last time, even if only for a few minutes.

That depends on when Better Call Saul ends.

Having the finale be a “Stuff we didn’t see” account of the BB timeline is on the table.

 

[FPAlpha]

Saw it a few days ago finally and while it was a good movie in the context of the show i don't feel it was necessary.

In the show finale we see a truly fucked up Jesse get his revenge and escape as his final scene and we can assume he will be somehow able to restart his life - i don't believe we need everything shown so everybody can have their own version of what actually happened.

The movie doesn't add anything to the "mythology" of the show or the character of Jesse.. it was honestly just a cameo show on top of a generic plot that is neither original nor, as i said already, really needed to close some loose elements from the show.

That being said i still enjoyed it for what it is, Aaron Paul effortlessly slips back in the role that made him famous and i was entertained for two hours.

 

[RPOW0614]

I really enjoyed it.
I liked being able to see the rest of Jesse's story.
It felt very "in universe" of the original BB and we even got one "bitch!"
All of the cameos were good and didn't feel too contrived.

The only negative was after watching it I recalled how long it has been since "Better Call Saul" ended.
I need more "Slippin' Jimmy".

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

Another great behind-the-scenes featurette:

Complete with interviews with most of the cast (aside from Cranston), along with nifty details about the production such as the level work of recreating some of the sets and costumes because the originals no longer exist, the level of work on Todd's snow globes, and how Walt's bloody hand is actually still on top of one of the vats (Vince didn't have the heart to clean it up even if it shouldn't be there for the flashback scene).

 

[Starkers]

I enjoyed it. Not sure it needed to exist and I'd rather have had a season of Better Call Saul this year but it was good. I'd forgotten how terrifying Jesse Plemons is as a villain.

 

[bigdaddy]

along with nifty details about the production such as the level work of recreating some of the sets and costumes because the originals no longer exist, the level of work on Todd's snow globes

And the this topic should have a second poll question; was it worth all of the work? I'd have to say no.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

And the this topic should have a second poll question; was it worth all of the work? I'd have to say no.

Well based on the ratings it was financially worth it but I know what you mean.

I say yes. It’s the same sort of project as BSG’s “The Plan”, except, you know, successful. I like that Jesse got a chance to say goodbye to his parents and let them off the hook for how his life turned out. I like the additional context we get to Todd’s relationship with Jesse. And that Jesse learns to fight for himself without another person to lean on.

 

[The Nightmare Doctor]

And the this topic should have a second poll question; was it worth all of the work? I'd have to say no.

While I would say a resounding yes!

Unfortunately the current board system doesn't allow multiple poll questions. We haven't had that option in years, sadly.

 

[Owain Taggart]

So, finally got down to watching this. Overall, I give it a very big MEH. It's your average Netflix movie. I don't think it would end up garnering so much attention if it weren't a Breaking Bad movie. Sure, it was fun to see some of the characters again, but I don't think it added anything significant that makes it a must watch.

I personally feel it would have been far more compelling had they followed the White Family as they try to pick up and resume their normal lives after all the chaos, leaving room for a Pinkman cameo.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I think a far more compelling show would be Pinkman’s new life after escaping. Trying to have that normal life, maybe falling in love with another single mother. But also remembering what happened to Andrea and facing problems of being a fugitive.