Top Gun: Maverick (2022) - Magnificent; a soaring vehicle

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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.

Related posts:

 

Joseph Kosinski: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

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?

The Host/괴물 (Gwoemul) (2006) or, A Monster in Korea

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A tentacled sea monster has a young woman on this simple poster for Bong Joon Ho's The Host

A torn up little Korean family of losers have their daughter kidnapped by an awesome sea monster, created from a deliberate chemical spill by the US military.

The Host is written by Won-jun Ha (Spygirl/Geunyeoreul moreumyeon gancheob (2004)), Chul-hyun Baek (Under Cover/Eondeokeobeo (2021, TV-series)) and South Korean master filmmaker, co-writer/director Bong Joon Ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite/Flandersui gae (2000)), whose 3rd feature it is. The original title translates to 'monster'.

It is an effective, modern monster movie with an unusual focus (the family are deliberately drawn as losers, centered on running a tiny noodle shack by the river.) The actors do their part valiantly, and the monster is impressively created in a successful mesh of practical effects and (mostly) CG animation. Today there are scenes in the film that inevitably makes an audience think of the China Virus pandemic, lending The Host a prophetic quality.

The Host also has handsome photography (by Hyung Koo Kim (Woman on the Beach/Haebyeonui yeoin (2006)), and shows promises for Ho's knack for acerbic contemporary commentary in outrageous, often darkly funny scenarios. Here the US military are obviously to blame, but the local government is at least co-responsible, and wholly responsible for the wild, intrusive and destructive overreactions to the monster and possible virus loose. The chase gets a bit long, and a sentimental injection in the narrative towards the end is a bit jarring, but The Host is still a remarkable and odd film that demands to be seen.

 

Related posts:

Bong Joon Ho: The day after ... the 2020 Oscars  
Parasite/기생충 (Gisaengchung) (2019) or, The Haves and the Have Nots 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Memories of Murder/살인의 추억 (Sarinui chueok) (2003) - Song performance crowns Ho's rich crime drama 

 

 Joon Ho talks about the film at the New York Film Festival here

 

Cost: ₩ 11.8 bil., approximately 11 mil. $

Box office: 89.4 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.12 times its cost)

[The Host premiered 21 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 119 minutes. The script was inspired by a 2000 incident in which a Korean mortician was instructed by US military personnel in Seoul to dump large amounts of formaldehyde down the drain; and also the capture of a deformed, S-shaped fish in the Han river. At least 14 companies were involved in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from June 2005 - ? in Seoul, South Korea. The film opened #24 to a 310k $ first weekend in 71 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #23 and in 116 theaters, grossing 2.2 mil. $ (2.5 % of the total gross). The film did extraordinary business in South Korea, where - in the country of then 48.5 mil. residents - it sold 13 mil. tickets, grossing 64.6 mil. $ (72.3 % of the total gross), making it the highest-grossing South Korean film of all time - at the time. The film won 5/10 Blue Dragon awards (South Korea's Oscar), among other honors. North Korean authorities lauded the film due to its US-critical sentiments, highly unusual for a South Korean major film. Sequel and remake plans have not come to fruition. Joon Ho returned with Tokyo! (2008, segment) and theatrically with Mother/Madeo (2009). Kang-ho Song (Swiri (1999)) returned in The Show Must Go On/Uahan segye (2007). The Host is certified fresh at 93 % with a 7.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Host?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) - Chaney radiates humanity as tragic deformed hero in impressive production

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A dark and quite haunting, elaborate painting of the 'Festival of Fools' scene from the film makes up this atmospheric poster for Wallace Worsley's The Hunchback of Notre Dame

In Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame in the year 1482 the outcast hunchback Quasimodo is in charge of the bells during a dramatic period, in which local gypsy beauty Esmeralda becomes the object of desire for the dashing Captain Phoebus.

 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is written by Perley Poore Sheehan (For Those We Love (1921)) and Edward T. Lowe Jr. (Educating Father (1936)), with Chester L. Roberts (Prisoners of Love (1921)) contributing uncredited contributions, adapting the same-titled 1831 novel by Victor Hugo (Bug-Jargal (1826), and directed by Wallace Worsley (An Alien Enemy (1918)).

It is an impressive major production, which shows what incredible lengths the Hollywood studio machine was able to traverse to entertain and woo the world in the roaring twenties. The result is grand and it is entertaining.

The film presents thousands of extras, horses, costumes, beautiful sets and the dilemma plot of Esmeralda caught between her raucous street background and her new-found love from the aristocracy. But the film's inevitable highlight is without a doubt Lon Chaney's (The Ace of Hearts (1921)) deeply impressive turn as Quasimodo.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 1.25 mil. $

Box office: 3.5 mil. $ rentals

= Box office success (returned 2.8 times its cost in rentals alone)

[The Hunchback of Notre Dame premiered 2 September (New York) and runs 102 minutes, with a cut version running 98 minutes and a director's cut version running 117 minutes. Chaney had personally bought the rights to make the film and was deeply involved in the production. Erich von Stroheim was reportedly his first choice to direct but was fired by Universal executive Irving Thalberg for budget overruns on his Merry-Go-Round (1923). Construction of the Notre Dame set took approximately 6 months, including 35 ten feet high replicas of the 'Gallery of Kings' statues. Shooting took place from December 1922 - June 1923 in California and France. The 3.5 mil. $ rental figure stems from a 1932 Variety article; it should be noted that a gross figure could then realistically be much higher. The film has fallen into public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legally right here. Worsley returned with The Man Who Fights Alone (1924). Chaney returned in The Next Corner (1924). The Hunchback of Notre Dame is fresh at 92 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?

House of Flying Daggers/十面埋伏/Shí Miàn Mái Fú/Sap6 Min6 Maai4 Fuk6 (2004) - Visuals and score improve Zhang's cold wuxia solemnity

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A plethora of colors adorn the three characters on this poster for Yimou Zhang's House of Flying Daggers

859 AD, during the decline of the Chinese Tang dynasty, a police captain breaks a beautiful, blind rebel out of prison with unforeseen consequences.

House of Flying Daggers is written by Feng Li (Hero/Ying xiong (2002)), Bin Wang (Beauty Remains/Mei ren yi jiu (2005)) and co-writer/co-producer/director Yimou Zhang (Red Sorghum/Hong gao liang (1988)).

I don't much care for the specifically Asian style of filmmaking, where very long films consist of many scenes of cold and overly serious dialog, - sometimes about what seems trivial matters, - and House of Flying Daggers is exactly such an Asian film, which makes me give up and zone out. It takes solemnity to nauseating heights, is bereft of humor, taking place in a dream-like, unrealistic version of ancient China that feels so distant that at least audiences such as myself lose interest.

It does nevertheless have natural scenes of great beauty, ingenious action and a score by Shigeru Umebayashi (Like the Wind/Come il Vento (2013)), which is also beautiful.

 

Related post:

 

Yimou Zhang: The Great Wall/长城/Cháng Chéng (2016) - Damon appears foolish in unexciting, major US-Chinese monster turkey

Watch a 4-minute dance scene from the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 92.8 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 7.73 times its cost)

[House of Flying Daggers premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 119 minutes. Shooting took place from September - December 2003 in Ukraine and China, including Beijing. The film opened #19 to a 397k $ first weekend in 15 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #15 and in 1,189 theaters, grossing 11 mil. $ (11.9 %). North America was the 2nd biggest market; biggest was Japan with 24.4 mil. $ (26.3 %); and 3rd biggest was China with a recorded, somewhat suspiciously low 10 mil. $ (10.8 %). The film was nominated for an Oscar: Best Cinematography (Xiaoding Zhao (Little Big Soldier/Da bing xiao jiang (2010)), lost to Robert Richardson for The Aviator. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, 9 BAFTAs, a European Film award and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Unsupported claims say that the film was an even bigger hit on home video in North America than theatrically. Zhang returned with Riding Along for Thousands of Miles/Qian li zou dan qi (2005); Ziyi Zhang (The Banquet/Ye yan (2006)) returned in 2046 (2004); Takeshi Kaneshiro (Turn Left, Turn Right/Heung joh chow heung yau chow (2003)) in Perhaps Love/Ru guo · Ai (2005); and Andy Lau (Blind Detective/Maang taam (2013)) in Triad Underworld/Gong woo (2004)). House of Flying Daggers is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of House of Flying Daggers?

The Grandmaster/一代宗師/一代宗师/Yīdài Zōngshī/Jat1 Doi6 Zung1 Si1/ (2013) - Visuals prevail in Kar-Wai's strange kung fu spectacle

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+ Best Hong Kong Movie of the Year + Best Kung Fu Movie of the Year

 

Vivid motion and water splashing incredibly are central elements on this mostly black and white poster for Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster

Kung fu legend Yip Man is followed in 1936 during internal competitions in China's martial arts groups, Japanese occupation and great changes in the country.

The Grandmaster is written by Jingzhi Zou (Legend of a Kung Fu Rabbit/Tu xia chuan qi (2011)), Haofeng Xu (Judge Archer/Jian shi liu bai yuan (2012)) and Chinese master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Wong Kar-Wai (As Tears Go By/Wong Gok ka moon (1988)). It is based on real-life Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man. The original title translates to, 'ancestral teacher of a generation.'

It is a fascinating and odd film, which it seems hard to fully comprehend, perhaps notably as a Westerner, - but even as a Westerner who has seen a good deal of kung fu movies. Much of it ostensibly revolves around kung fu techniques.

The Grandmaster has kinetic, explosive fight scenes, and Kar-Wai makes it an esoteric art form all his own to manipulate the speed of large portions of the film's shots, which enshrouds it in an unreal haze. This makes periods of the film seem downright dizzying as an onslaught of beauty and poetry in violent motion. The Grandmaster definitely deserves to be watched more than once.

 

Related posts:

Wong Kar-Wai: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

My Blueberry Nights (2007) - A slice too cute
2046 (2004) - Kar-Wai's visually resplendent, empty hull of a movie 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

In the Mood for Love/花樣年華/faa1joeng6 nin4waa4/huāyàng niánhuá (2000) - Kar-Wai's delectable home run 
Chungking Express/重慶森林 (1994) - Kar-Wai's urban love drama is a visual treat 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 240 mil. CNY, approximately 38.6 mil. $

Box office: 73.9 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.91 times its cost)

[The Grandmaster was released 8 January (China) and runs 130 minutes, with shorter Western versions running 123 and 108 minutes. Development began in 2008. One delay came when Tony Leung (Hard Boiled/Lat sau san taam (1992)), who plays Ip Man, broke his arm while training Wing Chun. Shooting took place from December 2009 - April 2010 in China. The film opened #37 to a 132k $ first weekend in North America in 7 theaters, where it peaked at #15 and in 804 theaters (different weeks), grossing 6.5 mil. $ (8.8 % of the total gross). The biggest markets were China with 45.2 mil. $ (61.2 %), North America and Hong Kong with 2.7 mil. $ (3.7 %). While the original cut runs 130 minutes, the Berlin International Film Festival cut - the first shown in the West - is 123 minutes, and the North-American edit dictated by distributor The Weinstein Company, is 108 minutes. The film was Hong Kong's nomination for the Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars. It was instead nominated for 2 other Oscars; it lost Best Cinematography (Philippe Le Sourd (Melody for a Hustler/Cantique de la Racaille (1998)) to Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity and Costumes to The Great Gatsby. It won 7/11 Asian Film award nominations, 12/14 Hong Kong Film award nominations, a National Board of Review award, among other honors. The film made an additional 9.8 mil. $ (13.3 %) at a 2015 Chinese re-release. Kar-Wai has not returned as director since The Grandmaster and is only announced in connection with two - perhaps - coming TV-series. Leung returned in Shimajiro: A Wonderful Adventure/Gekijouban Shimajirou no wao!: Shimajirou to kujira no uta (2014); Ziyi Zhang (Love for Life/Mo shu wai zhuan (2011)) in Better and Better/Yue lai yue hao: Cun wan (2013). The Grandmaster is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Grandmaster?

Gamera the Invincible/Daikaijû Gamera/Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) - The birth of the child-friendly turtle kaiju

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A sensationalistic, nothing short of fabulous poster for Sandy Howard and Noriaki Yuasa's Gamera, the Giant Monster

Before the film's title sequence a Russian jet plane gets shot down and explodes in Alaska with an atomic bomb, which goes off, and an enormous fire-spouting turtle, who can fly like a UFO, gets created.

Gamera, the Giant Monster is written by Richard Kraft (American scenes) and Niisan Takahashi (Kemeko no uta (1968)) and directed by Sandy Howard (Diary of a Bachelor (1964)) (American scenes) and Noriaki Yuasa (Shiawasa nara te o tatake (1964)).
What follows after the events detailed above is what feels like quite a long movie, though the film is shorter than 90 minutes. The effects impress, as when Gamera the flying turtle knocks over nuclear reactors. But there is also a ridiculous sub-plot about a boy, who really cares for the giant monster.
SPOILER In the end Gamera gets locked inside a giant capsule and sent to Mars, meanwhile the Gamera song, (it's pretty bad yeah), gets played again, and the screen excitedly proclaims as from the mouths of its expectedly enthused audiences; Sayonara Gamera!

Related post:

Gamera franchise: Destroy All Planets/Gamera vs. Viras/Gamera Vs. Space Monster Viras/ガメラ対宇宙怪獣バイラス (Gamera tai uchū Kaijū Bairasu) (1968) - Unmitigated kaiju trash

Watch a great chronological collection of Gamera trailers that runs 20 minutes here

Cost: 40 mil. ¥
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but reportedly a big hit in Japan
[Gamera, the Giant Monster was released 27 November (Japan) and runs around 78-86 minutes (different versions). Made as a more child-friendly rival to Toho's popular Godzilla (1954), the film was first intended to feature live rats attacking a miniature city. But the rats gotten for the film turned out to have fleas and were removed, the story was rewritten and resultingly the Gamera monster was created. The cost is under half of the one for Godzilla (100 mil. ¥). The film was reportedly a big hit in Japan, where production of a sequel was instantly begun with an elevated budget on par with Godzilla's. An Americanized version with some new scenes, dubbed dialog and a new theme song was created and released in December 1966. It is the only Gamera film to get a North-American release, and its gross numbers are regrettably unknown. Gamera returned in Gamera vs. Barugon (1966) and 10 later sequels. Howard returned with King of Africa/Caccia ai Violenti (1968); Yuasa with Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967). 2,533 IMDb users have given Gamera: The Giant Monster (the Japanese version of the film) an average 5.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Gamera the Invincible?

The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck!

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A mysterious, stressful poster for Brian De Palma's The Fury, which hints at the telepathic powers involved in the plot

Kirk Douglas (A Lovely Way to Die (1968)) plays a father, whose son is kidnapped by a secret governmental department inside the CIA, who want him for his telepathic abilities. With the help of a young woman with a similar talent, Douglas searches for his son.

The Fury is written by John Farris (Dear Dead Delilah (1972)), based on his own same-titled 1976 novel, and directed by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Brian De Palma (Hi, Mom! (1970)), whose 11th feature it is. It is an odd b-film, reminiscent of the better films Carrie (1976), - also by De Palma, - and David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981).
The story wallows in pseudo-science and is weak. John Cassavetes (Machine Gun McCain (1969)) plays a part in The Fury, SPOILER and when he literally explodes in sensational details in the ending, the film attains its tentative third ♥ in my assessment. But The Fury is surely no-one's finest hour.

Related posts:

Brian De Palma: Carlito's Way (1993) - De Palma's best gangster movie
Carrie (1976) or, Don't Bully the Strange Girl! 

Watch a short TV teaser for the film here

Cost: 5.5 -7.5 mil. $ (different reports)
Box office: Reportedly 24 mil. $
= Box office success - maybe even a big hit (cost returned 3.2 - 4.3 times)
[The Fury was released 10 March (USA) and runs 118 minutes. De Palma cast Douglas, a major star, because he had felt that his previous telekinesis movie Carrie had suffered at the box office for missing a major star. Shooting took place in Israel and in Los Angeles, California and in Illinois, including Chicago, from July - August 1977. The hotel scene was shot in Chicago's Plymouth Hotel, which would also be used in John Landis' masterpiece The Blues Brothers (1980). Later stars Dennis Franz and Daryl Hannah make their movie debuts in The Fury, and Jim Belushi is an extra. SPOILER The first take of Cassavetes' body exploding wasn't successful, and it took nearly a week to prepare a second take. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. De Palma returned with Home Movies (1979), again with Douglas, who returned before that in The Villain (1979). Cassavetes returned in Brass Target (1978). The Fury is fresh at 80 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fury?