Top Gun: Maverick (2022) -
They might have been able to sell this as a separate film, but I think that the existence of its predecessor'Top Gun' (1986) was probably necessary to make this one truly work and to give it some awesome marketing power. With that said, this was certainly the better of the two films in the franchise.
Yes, it was more of the same and pretty darn predictable, but I enjoyed it a lot more.
I really hadn't expected to like it, because having rewatched the first film recently I found that I couldn't understand why I had ever liked that one at all.
What I could appreciate about this film was the maturity of the story in comparison and Tom Cruise's improved performance as the titular character. It really helped that Maverick was more grown up too.
I always seem to point it out in my reviews of his films, but the new calmer, 21st Century version of Tom has far more going for him than any of his younger 1980's castings. In this film he returned to one of those previous shouty man roles, but with a more easy disposition and he had definitely improved with age, especially physically in my opinion, woof-woof, hubba-hubba.
The charm of Maverick was easier to see and so it made sense that Jennifer Connelly, who was just enough in the part of Penny would realise that he wasn't the same as he had been before. She wasn't playing Kelly McGillis' part from "TG", but another lover from an occasion in the interim. I liked the fact that they didn't fixate on this romance, but instead used it as a way for him to have at least someone on his side, as no one was particularly keen to learn flying and tactics from such a "Maverick".
The Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, played by Jon Hamm, definitely needed persuading of the benefits of Tom's rogue pilot ways, but he wasn't such an over the top hard ass that he was unbelievable or stereotypical and he was a very sexy beast too.
Playing the part of Mav's old wingman Goose's (Anthony Edwards) son "Rooster" was Miles Teller. I did feel that he had the right look for it and he seemed to have taken on some of the other actors mannerisms too, especially towards the end of the film.
It hadn't necessarily endeared me to him however, because he was still Miles Teller and I was frustrated that his character still held a grudge about his father's death, even though he was only about 3 at the time. And the backchat between him and Mav was quite cheesy at times.
For me there is just something so inherently unlikeable about Miles and the characters he plays. Maybe I'll meet him one day and he will show me that I'm wrong about him, but while I could appreciate how he played Rooster and his outstanding delivery of Andrew in 'Whiplash' (2014) too, both characters are essentially unpleasant to start with, semi-underdogs or not. I will say that he did grow on me by the end, but I will need to see something more than his 'Mr Fantastic'* to truly warm to him.
Initially I'd thought that the obnoxious machismo still needed calming down a tad, but after a while it seemed to be more realistic and less about banging on their chests and pissing contests, although I did like seeing all of their gorgeous glistening, sweaty pectorals on the beach in an homage to the volleyball scene from the 1986 instalment. And actually that wasn't the only example where they repeated certain scenes and even specific shots from that one, but it was all done in a way that was kind of clever and enjoyable, definitely with an eye for the fans that would appreciate the nods they had made.
In fact there were a lot of moments that could have been straight out of George Lucas' 'Star Wars' (1977) saga too, because, although it wasn't the only bit or even dialogue that they seemed to steal from that film, the bombing run scene was almost as if they had extended the drama of the last 30 minutes of it and set it in a real world situation. I thought that made it a more interesting finale than I'd got from "TG" though and there was an extra feeling of threat. I certainly felt the tension of what they were going through, possibly because I was more interested in the characters this time, due to better acting performances, or because the directors and writers had done their job well in the first place, probably both.
I was genuinely emotional by the end of the film, but I was having withdrawals from years of taking anti-depressants at the time, which could have been a factor of that too.
I had expected more of the same and that was essentially what I got, but this one certainly had more polish to it, mostly because of Tom's more mature performance and I would imagine that he had a lot more say in how things were done this time around too.
It was actually a very appropriate sequel and one that worked better for the distance inbetween, a more grown up storyline, structure and better acting. Obviously it also had an interesting display of aerial acrobatics and what could be done, with the right pilots, akin to 'The Red Arrows' I suppose. That wasn't something I had remembered from the original and I hate to keep referring back to that one, but that was always going to be the case from any film critic, even Barry Norman would find it hard not to at least reference the OG TG.
Unlike that first one, I would definitely sit down to watch this one again. It lost points for not being the most original storyline, but gained some for doing it so well.
840.97/1000.
*Fantastic Four (2015)
They might have been able to sell this as a separate film, but I think that the existence of its predecessor'Top Gun' (1986) was probably necessary to make this one truly work and to give it some awesome marketing power. With that said, this was certainly the better of the two films in the franchise.
Yes, it was more of the same and pretty darn predictable, but I enjoyed it a lot more.
I really hadn't expected to like it, because having rewatched the first film recently I found that I couldn't understand why I had ever liked that one at all.
What I could appreciate about this film was the maturity of the story in comparison and Tom Cruise's improved performance as the titular character. It really helped that Maverick was more grown up too.
I always seem to point it out in my reviews of his films, but the new calmer, 21st Century version of Tom has far more going for him than any of his younger 1980's castings. In this film he returned to one of those previous shouty man roles, but with a more easy disposition and he had definitely improved with age, especially physically in my opinion, woof-woof, hubba-hubba.
The charm of Maverick was easier to see and so it made sense that Jennifer Connelly, who was just enough in the part of Penny would realise that he wasn't the same as he had been before. She wasn't playing Kelly McGillis' part from "TG", but another lover from an occasion in the interim. I liked the fact that they didn't fixate on this romance, but instead used it as a way for him to have at least someone on his side, as no one was particularly keen to learn flying and tactics from such a "Maverick".
The Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, played by Jon Hamm, definitely needed persuading of the benefits of Tom's rogue pilot ways, but he wasn't such an over the top hard ass that he was unbelievable or stereotypical and he was a very sexy beast too.
Playing the part of Mav's old wingman Goose's (Anthony Edwards) son "Rooster" was Miles Teller. I did feel that he had the right look for it and he seemed to have taken on some of the other actors mannerisms too, especially towards the end of the film.
It hadn't necessarily endeared me to him however, because he was still Miles Teller and I was frustrated that his character still held a grudge about his father's death, even though he was only about 3 at the time. And the backchat between him and Mav was quite cheesy at times.
For me there is just something so inherently unlikeable about Miles and the characters he plays. Maybe I'll meet him one day and he will show me that I'm wrong about him, but while I could appreciate how he played Rooster and his outstanding delivery of Andrew in 'Whiplash' (2014) too, both characters are essentially unpleasant to start with, semi-underdogs or not. I will say that he did grow on me by the end, but I will need to see something more than his 'Mr Fantastic'* to truly warm to him.
Initially I'd thought that the obnoxious machismo still needed calming down a tad, but after a while it seemed to be more realistic and less about banging on their chests and pissing contests, although I did like seeing all of their gorgeous glistening, sweaty pectorals on the beach in an homage to the volleyball scene from the 1986 instalment. And actually that wasn't the only example where they repeated certain scenes and even specific shots from that one, but it was all done in a way that was kind of clever and enjoyable, definitely with an eye for the fans that would appreciate the nods they had made.
In fact there were a lot of moments that could have been straight out of George Lucas' 'Star Wars' (1977) saga too, because, although it wasn't the only bit or even dialogue that they seemed to steal from that film, the bombing run scene was almost as if they had extended the drama of the last 30 minutes of it and set it in a real world situation. I thought that made it a more interesting finale than I'd got from "TG" though and there was an extra feeling of threat. I certainly felt the tension of what they were going through, possibly because I was more interested in the characters this time, due to better acting performances, or because the directors and writers had done their job well in the first place, probably both.
I was genuinely emotional by the end of the film, but I was having withdrawals from years of taking anti-depressants at the time, which could have been a factor of that too.
I had expected more of the same and that was essentially what I got, but this one certainly had more polish to it, mostly because of Tom's more mature performance and I would imagine that he had a lot more say in how things were done this time around too.
It was actually a very appropriate sequel and one that worked better for the distance inbetween, a more grown up storyline, structure and better acting. Obviously it also had an interesting display of aerial acrobatics and what could be done, with the right pilots, akin to 'The Red Arrows' I suppose. That wasn't something I had remembered from the original and I hate to keep referring back to that one, but that was always going to be the case from any film critic, even Barry Norman would find it hard not to at least reference the OG TG.
Unlike that first one, I would definitely sit down to watch this one again. It lost points for not being the most original storyline, but gained some for doing it so well.
840.97/1000.
*Fantastic Four (2015)