‘El Camino’ cooks up a weaker batch of ‘Breaking Bad’

Lest anyone have forgotten, the series signed off six years ago with Paul's Jesse Pinkman having been liberated from captivity by his one-time partner Walter White, riding into an unknown future.Without spoiling anything, the movie — written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan — basically picks up where the show left off (as "Bad" prequel "Better Call Saul" has demonstrated, Gilligan doesn't really sweat time lapses), charting Jesse's next moves from there.Of course, the "Bad" finale sent the character into the night with a cathartic yell, but there was the little matter of what one does after such an ordeal, especially with that many dead bodies in the rear-view mirror as baggage.What ensues, though, is essentially a rather low-octane thriller, punctuated by trips down memory lane. And while there are some fine moments buried within all that — some showcasing Gilligan's quirky streak, like an incongruous rendition of the song "Sharing the Night Together" — it still feels a trifle unnecessary.Perhaps that's because some things that worked inordinately well in the series — the long pauses, the quiet, and the ability to tease out the tension surrounding seemingly inescapable predicaments — are processed differently when crunched into a two-hour movie.As with "Downton Abbey," this "Breaking Bad" revival stems more from a desire to capitalize on a beloved propeRead More – Source