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| The world's greatest movie star is ready to deliver something rare and special on this excitement-building poster for Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick |
Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell hasn't progressed from being a navy captain, because he belongs in fast airplanes and not behind a desk. Because he is still an extraordinary capacity, he is now tasked with heading a team of young Top Gun pilots on a dangerous mission of great importance.
Top Gun: Maverick is written by Ehren Kruger (Scream 3 (2000)), Eric Warren Singer (The International (2009)) and Christopher McQuarrie (Valkyrie (2008)), with Peter Craig (12 Strong (2018)) and Justin Marks (The Jungle Book (2016)) contributing story elements, and directed by Iowan master filmmaker Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy (2010)), whose 4th feature it is. It is the long-awaited sequel to Tony Scott's Top Gun (1986).
Personally I had not long awaited Top Gun: Maverick, because Top Gun never was a cornerstone film for me, although it is admittedly a great watch. (My early Tom Cruise (Legend (1985)) favorite is Cocktail (1988).) But that doesn't hinder Maverick, which has been in the can and ready to release since June 2020, but has been pushed out until now by the China Virus pandemic - and Cruise's insistence that it should have a wide theatrical release.
That certainly makes sense, when you see it on a big screen, because huge, thrilling flying pictures are simply best seen on a big screen, with all the might of modern sound technology backing up the extraordinary flying scenes.
Top Gun: Maverick will bring goosebumps to many (especially male) audiences just seconds into beginning, just at the sight of the 'Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' credit, set in that old-timey font, to some very recognizable tones, given a terrific new spin. Yes, this is a nostalgia trip, - and that's wonderful. It's also a rare breed of circus animal star vehicle with its share of cheesy moments. But that's as it should be when the film is Top Gun: Maverick. - Most importantly, the film works on all levels:
Cruise is arguably doing some of the best work of his career these years, - in Mission: Impossible films that continue to top each other, and now in Maverick. He is on fire here, and you sense the raw willpower and awesome ambition that lies behind this strong action drama. He has allied himself with some very reliable supporting actors in Ed Harris (Touching Home (2008)), Miles Teller (Get a Job (2016)) and Jennifer Connelly (Ballet (1989)). Teller works great as Rooster, whose father's demise in Top Gun is the source of the dramatic conflict between him and mentor/substitute father figure Maverick here. And Connelly is a very classy, sexy and graceful lady - who has great chemistry with Cruise. Val Kilmer (Standing Up (2013)) makes a powerful appearance as Iceman, who has now become an ailing US admiral. There's a strong team of young bucks (and one cool young woman) on the team of young pilots, each of them looking sharper than the previous one, and giving Cruise, Connelly and Teller competition. The very macho and ambition-driven film looks great from all angles. - But perhaps the supporting actor here who is most wonderful is Jon Hamm (Million Dollar Arm (2014)) as the vice admiral directly responsible for overseeing Maverick's teaching: Hamm's face puckers in so many priceless ways here, as he offers opposition to Cruise's predictable wildness as the man who wants his pilots to complete the dangerous mission - and get back in one piece.
Top Gun: Maverick has warmth, fun, romance - and suspense that jolts you back in your seat and make you grab the armrests, as you sense the G powers ripping through your body, (or rather, those on screen.) It is better than a wild roller coaster. Stupendous shots follow each other as pearls on a string, and you'll be right to bet that a lot of people worked tremendously hard to put this all together on screen. (The cinematography by Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi (2012)) is a blast.) The score, - by Lorne Balfe (Songbird (2020)), Harold Faltermeyer (Fletch Lives (1989)), Lady Gaga - in her first composing credit, singing the film's solid hit Hold My Hand, - and Hans Zimmer (Chappie (2015)), - is a wonderful, strong sound carpet for the film.
Top Gun: Maverick is a blast from the past, in strapping new threads, with top-charged talents in every department. An irresistible ode to brotherhood, teamwork, love, hard work, discipline, America and - more than anything - human excellence. Top Gun: Maverick will likely show to be impossible for Cruise to top in the years to come - and for others, for that matter. It is a pure, high-flying, inspirational masterpiece.
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2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Tron: Legacy (2010) - Feast your eyes on Garrett Hedlund in dazzling sci-fi sequel
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 170 mil. $
Box office: 887.5 mil. $ and counting
= Big hit (has returned 5.22 times its cost to date)
[Top Gun: Maverick premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 131 minutes. Cruise in 1990 called a Top Gun sequel 'irresponsible'. But the sequel was gathering momentum 20 years later, until director Tony Scott's suicide in 2012. The project changed hands, and Kosinski was hired to direct instead. Cruise was paid 13 mil. $ and an undisclosed back-end percentage for his work on the film. Shooting took place from September 2018 - July 2019 in California, including San Diego, Nevada and Washington. China's Tencent production company were delivering 12.5 % of the film's budget but then pulled out over fears that it would anger the Chinese Communist Party. The release was pushed from Summer 2019 to Summer 2020 over difficult action scenes that needed a re-shoot, but then due to the China Virus pandemic, the release was pushed out another 2 years, while offers from streaming services were shot down by Cruise and co. in favor of a traditional, big theatrical release. The film opened #1 to a 126.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, the biggest opening of Cruise's career by far. It has spent another weekend at #1, and then continues to be in the top 5 with a #2 and #3 weekend currently, and a 466.1 mil. $ still-ticking domestic gross. It is the 2nd highest-grossing film of the year so far, behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and does not have a Chinese release green-lit by the country's ever-restrictive Communist Party rule. IMDb's users have rated the film in at the site's Top 250 at #43, sitting between Casablanca (1942) and Whiplash (2014). Kosinski returns with Spiderhead (2022, VoD). Cruise returns in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part 1 (2023). Top Gun: Maverick is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Top Gun: Maverick?
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