In terms of dialogue, I think it’s mostly as good as the show, characters talk like
normal people and I appreciate that.
In particular, I enjoyed pretty much all the stuff with the boys.
And when Pinkman was talking shit to vacuum man.
In terms of cinematography, I think it’s exactly on par with the show.
This shot reminds of the secret dungeon in 15, and the transition from Jesse driving
to the video game is fantastic.
Now, let’s talk about the plot.
In terms of story, I don’t think the movie is as good as Breaking Bad.
I don’t think it’s good…at all.
My biggest problem with it is that the main antagonist feels like a random junkie who
would’ve been killed in a heartbeat during Breaking Bad.
He’s not funny or intimidating he’s just some guy.
It’s a hard pill to swallow when the show and Better Call Saul have had some entertaining
antagonists and anti-heroes.
Gus, in my opinion, was the perfect villain because up until the point where he got got,
he felt unbeatable.
He was always one step ahead and it took everything Walt had just to keep up with him.
I realize I’m comparing a tv villain to a film villain but it is possible to create
a massive antagonistic force very quickly.
And this guy, ain’t that.
However, I do like this interaction cause of the homoerotic undertones.
The shoot-out initiated by villain man is also extremely random.
There’s an argument to be made that he did it cause he was high on cocaine, but it still
doesn’t feel satisfying from a story-telling perspective.
You could make it make sense if it had been teased in the earlier scene, which probably
would’ve taken one line.
He could ask pinkman if he wanted to try his luck in a duel, or say something like that,
and I don’t think it would be as weird when it came back up.
We also watch Jesse pick up gun number 2 at his parents house so that robbed the shootout
of any and all tension for me.
If two people are talking and you know there’s a bomb under the table, it’s tense.
If two people are talking and you know the bomb can be defused at any time, it’s not
tense.
If Pinkman only had the .22 and found a clever way to kill the guy with it, that would’ve
been awesome.
I just see the 2nd gun as an easy way out.
It also could’ve helped if we would’ve established bad guy was a good shot which
we never do.
My next issue is, the flash backs are too long.
I like Todd singing and casually talking about murdering as much as anyone but I want new
things to happen.
We already know what happens to Todd.
I’ve seen a lot of praise for the scene in the desert, showing how helpless and broken
Jesse is but there are exactly one million scenes in Breaking Bad that already show that.
Quick aside, I thought I was being a superficial douchebag when I was looking at Todd through
the bars and thought he got fat.
I was very relieved when 4 out of every ten comments were about his weight gain.
It makes me wonder if every time he murdered someone he ate over their corpse as a display
of retarded power.
The tarantula from Drew Sharp in his apartment is a nice touch and also shows that a lot
of effort went into this Netflix television event,
They just focused on the wrong things, which brings me to my next point.
I have a conspiracy theory with no evidence that Vince wanted to maybe do like an hour
long special, or one more episode.
Then Netflix convinced him to make it into a two hour long movie.
It would perfectly explain the overly long scenes and the lack of satisfying plot events.
Another explanation could be that Vincey likes these characters a little too much and made
a whole movie just to revisit them.
Or maybe Aaron Paul becoming a producer is to blame, there’s really no way for us to
know unless someone says something.
The scene between him and Walt, while somewhat enjoyable is ultimately unnecessary.
This is the line people point to when they say the scene is neccesary.
They say it shows that Walt took a special sense of pride in their work much earlier
then we previously thought and the scene introduces new information.
This sequence occurs during the same timeframe as “4 days out” which is the ninth episode
of the 2nd season.
I would make the argument that the first time we see Walt taking pride in what they do is
season 1 episode 6.
After that, he goes to his car and melees the steering wheel, clearly excited about what he just did.
If you don’t agree with me about that scene, there’s this interaction in Season 2, episode 10.
And since we already have proof that Walt
was hype about being Florida man before the El Camino scene, it makes it pointless nostalgia
bait.
Just like some people point to that line having meaning, I point to this one.
That’s the entire movie.
It’s unnecessary with a metric fuck ton of flashbacks and Jesse ends at the same spot
he ended before.
When I watched Breaking Bad I assumed he got away and everything would be fine.
At the end of this movie, I assume he got away and everything will be fine.
I’ll grant that the context is different but generally nothing has changed for better or for
worse, The movie doesn’t ruin Breaking Bad or
even affect it at all.
I’ve complained enough so if I was directing the movie, here’s how I would do it.
The very beginning is the same, regardless of my criticism for other parts of the film,
the flashback with Mike is awesome and perfectly sets the tone.
Jesse gets to skinny’s house, cleans himself up, everything is normal.
They hang out for a bit with a very chill vibe, get the car off the street and decide
that Pinkman will lay low there.
Jesse goes to sleep.
Wakes up in full PTSD mode, Badger and Pete try to calm him down but he fires the gun anyway.
Doesn’t hit anyone but neighbors report gunshot.
Pinkman leaves while crying and apologizing for firing the gun.
They make plans to meet at a fall back point if things go disastrously wrong.
Pete gets taken in by the police and questioned by a sympathetic detective.
Jesse goes to apartment to get money and has EXTREMELY BRIEF flashbacks to he and Todd’s
time together.
Police officer questions pinkman’s parents who are very shaken up.
Jesse encounters jerks, don’t pretend to be cops this time, just sneak in like Jesse did.
Find money, not as much as they were expecting, but enough for Pinkman to leave.
Jerks mention upcoming bank robbery cause their boss wants to ramp up operations in
the area.
Jesse says no, then gets turned down by vacuum man.
Detective goes to the hospital and asks about Lydia.
Pinkman exhausts all other options and agrees to take part in a robbery.
I like the idea of a robbery scene because the other robbery scene in the series is mind-blowingly
good And I think it’s funny that Jesse is getting
roped into a full blown heist for 1800 dollars.
However, if you think that’s stupid, which would be completely understandable
we can do an alternate alternate pathway
where he needs the full 125,000.
After that, jerks take him to their boss who is a low level Gus Fringe type and they set
up a plan.
I understand villain man is the boss in this version but in my movie he’s more of a henchman.
Officer questions Skylar White and Marie Shrader about Jesse.
Robbery takes place, goes disastrously wrong, shootout with police, Jesse has PSTD flashbacks.
Officer tries to reason with Pinkman, says he only wants to help him yadda yadda yadda.
Jesse and jerks that are left alive have falling out, Jesse gets separated from money but is
forced to leave.
Detective angrily confronts Skinny Pete and Badger at their house.
Tells them that Jesse is a danger to himself and others, just wants information from him,
plans to cut deal.
They say fuck off.
Officer shows them video of Pinkman’s parents interrogation and re-iterates wants to help Jesse.
Skinny doesn’t budge but Badger looks conflicted for a few seconds then we cut away.
Pinkman goes to fallback point, walks in AND there’s no one there.
Tracks down jerks to talk about money.
Detective goes back to try to talk to Lydia again, she has unfortunately passed away.
Detective seems upset by this.
Jesse arrives at jerks hideout, all seems good, Pinkman gets the money, but at the last
second there’s an argument.
SHOOTOUT
Jesse is hurt, forced to stay there for a
few minutes and nurse a wound.
Finally gets to leave.
Gets to vacuum man’s place.
Starts to walk into the store…
saw him leave the shootout.
Abruptly pulls off road and starts saying suspicious things.
Reveals that he’s working with Lydia’s contact that was brought up Season 5.
Blames Jesse for everything going to shit.
They go to strange building.
It’s pitch black.
Lights turn on and it’s a meth Lab.
Says he wants Jesse to cook for him and he will sell to Czech people.
Jesse fakes compliance…waits for a perfect moment, then attacks him.
They wrestle with gun and it goes off.
Pinkman is hit by bullet.
...survives!
I know some people will hate this because they like Jesse, I like him as well, that’s why I
think him dying would be so effective.
And there are already fake police in the movie so I don’t think it’s a huge stretch.
One last thing, I’ve seen people say you should view this as two more episodes of Breaking
Bad, rather than a film.
And I think that’s horseshit.
It was supposed to be a satisfying film with a fitting antagonist and instead we got this.
I’m gonna go watch Season 4 again cause that shit is great, and I’ll see you on the next one.