Review of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019) by Keithdow — 12 Oct 2019

Breaking Bad is Vince Gilligan. Vince Gilligan is Breaking Bad. There's just no other way to put it. And anyone who knows George Vincent Gilligan Jr. also knows that he'll produce pure brilliance regarding anything and everything to which he sets his brilliant mind.

Breaking Bad the television show is often mentioned as being one of the greatest series of all time. Breaking Bad the movie should now be discussed in terms of being one of the greatest television-to-movie continuations of all time.

Nobody should be surprised. Gilligan wrote, directed, and produced 'El Camino.' Throughout the film's masterful puppetry of drama, humor, and violence, we know it's Gilligan who is lording over it all, deftly manipulating the marionette strings.

He's the reason why the show-and now the movie-exists as a tragicomedy that pirouettes at both ends of the tragedy-comedy spectrum. The same goes for David Chase's 'The Sopranos,' a show that similarly has its place on the Mount Rushmore of television. Perhaps Gilligan learned from Chase that humor makes the violence palatable and violence makes the humor essential.

Regardless, Gilligan put his legacy on the line by endeavoring to make 'El Camino.' In doing so, Gilligan doubled down, wagering everything on himself. The result? Gilligan won. Again.