El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
(Spoiler Free)
- Release date: October 11, 2019
- Directed by Vince Gilligan
- Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes
Good Monster Grade: B-
It was nice to return to the dark, desperate, and dry New Mexico of the Breaking Bad universe. For fans of the show this movie is a love letter. There familiar faces, settings, and scenarios, but do not expect this to be a Walter White story. This movie is all about Jesse Pinkman, Heisenberg’s young and reckless lab assistant and former student. It is good to see Jesse, but the state he is in is bad. I worried and rooted for him the whole film.
The movie picks up directly after we last saw Jesse escaping his captures. The movie deals with how traumatized Pinkman is from being kept in a cage for so long and being held captive by a group of neo-Nazis. This is largely a movie about a man on the run. The film takes place over the span of only a few days, which disappointed me.
I did find myself being bored a couple of times during my viewing of this film. I will not lie. Some scenarios felt very unrealistic and almost comedic. There was an obtrusive feeling of introducing new extreme things that I felt the picture did not need. I felt the ending was mediocre. In fact, that is the way I feel about the whole movie. As a fan, I am pleased, but if I did not have the emotional connections I had already made during my viewings of Breaking Bad, I would not care about this story or its characters.
It is a good watch and I was happy to see some of the characters from the show I loved so much. Shout out to Skinny Pete! He is a true homie.
Reviews for Doctor Sleep and Terminator: Dark Fate are coming up! Have a Good and safe Halloween my friends!!
This review contains explicit language and personal opinions. Reader discretion is advised
Zombieland: Double Tap
(Spoiler Free)
- Release date: October 18, 2019
- Directed by Ruben Fleischer
- Runtime: 1 hour 28 minutes
Good Monster Grade: B
What is this? A double dose of your pal the Good Monster! It is the Halloween edition after all, and in honor of Zombieland: Double Tap. You get a special second movie review! You are so special. Consider this a Halloween treat.
The Positives This film is enjoyable, much like the first (which was released in 2009). The chemistry between the main cast is still present.
The story picks up pretty quickly after the events of the first film. Our post-apocalyptic group of survivors, namely Columbus played by Jesse Eisenberg, Wichita acted by Emma Stone, Little Rock portrayed by Abigail Breslin, and Tallahassee executed beautifully by the one and only Woody Harrelson. The interactions between these characters is familiar, familial, and fun. Woody Harrelson stands out as the explosive character from Tallahassee, but they have given him more of a father role in this film, especially in relation to Little Rock. New Characters are added; Madison. Berkeley, and Flagstaff are notable. The Zombie kills satisfy. This film does a good job at being exactly what it is, a sequel to a decent zombie film…ten years ago.
The Negatives This film is too little too late. I have been wondering about this sequel for the last ten years and now that it is here, I find I am a different person. Too much has happened. I have moved on from Zombieland. Not to mention, I feel zombie fatigue set in a long time ago in America. I blame The Walking Dead television series, not the comic books. As I watched this movie, I could see the different versions of scripts they went through. Story lines are set up with little to no pay off. Oddly enough, I felt like I was watching a television series while I was in the theater. The zombies were not good enough. In this film they attempt to introduce a new zombie they refer to as “The T-800” in reference to the Arnold Schwarzenegger character in Terminator. These zombies are harder to kill, faster, stronger, and look exactly like every other zombie. You would not be able to tell them apart based on appearance from a regular zombie. I felt that was a missed opportunity to create a mind-blowing design. The “T-800” set aside, there was not enough zombie action in this picture for me. Most of our time is spent with the cast, but as I watched the film I could help but to think that I wanted more zombies, dong zombie stuff, and being zombie cool. I was deprived of this simple pleasure while watching a movie called Zombieland.
In retrospect, I am glad this movie was made. I am glad it exists and I am happy all of the original characters came back. Having said that, I do feel that most of the budget went towards hiring that original cast back and not into special effects and computer generated work. Definitely see this movie if you are a fan of the first. Do not show this someone who is new to the zombie genre. Make them watch good zombie movies like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead, Zach Snyder’s version. Until next time my friends, hasta la vista baby. That was for you Flagstaff.
Reviews for Doctor Sleep and Terminator: Dark Fate are on their way. I hope you enjoyed this double-dose of Good Monster reviews. See you at the Cinema!
This review contains explicit language and personal opinions. Reader discretion is advised
