Top Gun: Maverick
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 Feeling the Need... the Need for Sequel Speed Flight!
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"At that point, it becomes clear that for Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick is not just a cash grab or a chance for a middle-aged guy to relive his youth. Instead, Cruise appears to believe he has been called back to duty for maybe the most impossible mission of his career: To save the movies themselves.""
— Matt Singer
Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie and a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. It is the sequel to 1986's Top Gun. The film stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer. Cruise and Kilmer reprise their roles from the first film. The film has its world premiere at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022, before its theatrical release in the United States on May 27, 2022, by Paramount Pictures.
Plot
Test pilot Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell has purposely dodged an advancement in rank after thirty years of service. One day Maverick is called to be put in charge of training a group of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission under the order of his fellow Naval Aviator friend and former rival Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now a high-ranking Four-Star Admiral and served as Commander of U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet. Among them is Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's late best friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw.
Why It Has The Need… THE NEED FOR SPEED!
- Excellent acting from the cast, like Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer (who reprised their roles 36 years after the previous movie) as well as the new cast members such as Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris, for much of the newcomers are introduced in the cast as various types of oppositional male egos (like the boss, the grudge, the young stud, etc.).
- As with Blade Runner 2049 and to a lesser extent Trainspotting 2, this is a perfect example of how to make a long-awaited legacy sequel for more than ten or twenty years to the original classic done right.
- Rather than performing in CGI, the film used real planes and aircraft for the filming to make it accurate of the real planes and aircraft. The same can be also said for fake planes. What makes it even more amazing is that the flight sequences look realistic.
- The story isn't a rehash of the first movie, instead has the original story that is not only the amazing love letter of the classic fans of the 1980s but is also an emotional tribute to the late Tony Scott (the director of the first film) who originally planned to direct his next project sequel for Top Gun before he committed suicide in 2012, leaving the project in development hell for several years, although producer Jerry Bruckheimer remained committed to the project, especially given Cruise's and Kilmer's interest.
- Many heartbreaking, heartwarming, and even funny moments throughout. Such as Mitchell's remorse since his friend Bradshaw's death and now has to teach his son whom he fears will suffer the same fate.
- Very meta and entertaining new characters from the film, like Hangman and Bob
- Out of all new TOPGUN graduates, Lt. Robert "Bob" Floyd seems to be the most popular thanks to his distinctive nickname/callsign, his endearing personality on the ground while also being extremely competent in the skies. It helps that he's played by Lewis Pullman, son of Bill Pullman, another actor whose most famous role is also that of an F/A-18 pilot.
- Lt. Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, portrayed by Monica Barbaro, is also popular as well for being the most prominent female TOPGUN graduate and Ms. Fanservice who is confident and good-natured, and turns out to be one of the best pilots trained under Maverick as well. Her callsign "Phoenix" also gains her quite several Ace Combat fans as she shares a callsign with Phoenix, one of the protagonist aces in the series.
- Much like Gaff's cameo in Blade Runner 2049, Iceman's cameo is very special and heartbreaking as well, he has achieved the rank of Admiral and is serving as the commander of the U.S. Pacific fleet as well as gives a speech to Maverick only to pass away days later.
- How the film adapted Val Kilmer's current life situation was also clever and well done.
- Excellent cinematography that makes you feel like you're flying in the air.
- Breathtaking and excellent action sequences. The plane stunts done by Tom Cruise himself add it up.
- Awesome pacing. Despite the 131-minute runtime long, it is perfectly balanced with fast-paced and slow-paced scenes at the right moments.
- The directing by Joseph Kosinski is excellent and does not go to waste.
- Harold Faltermeyer returns as a composer for the sequel, as well as new composers Hans Zimmer, Lady Gaga, and Lorne Balfe, and the soundtrack overall is still amazing as always. The new remix of "Danger Zone" by Musician Kenny Loggins and "Great Balls of Fire" by Miles Teller is also good and catchy as well. Not only that, the new original theme songs "Hold My Hand" by Gaga and "I Ain't Worried" by OneRepublic are awesome, and beautiful sound-inducing that contribute well to the actual story.
- "I Ain't Worried" is a pop rock song of the main squad characters playing the beach volleyball match.
- "Hold My Hand" is the whole crew celebrating in their way with Maverick and Rooster repairing airplanes together now and Mav and Penny end up together, after succeeding in their mission.
- "Great Balls of Fire" is Maverick watching the people in the bar having fun, remembering his youth for Goose's son.
- "The Man, The Legend/Touchdown" is a perfect, triumphant note to end the movie on, with Maverick, Rooster, and Hangman finally becoming good friends after returning home as heroes.
- This is one of the only movies with elements that are better than the original. For instance, the pilots never used their cannons at all in the first film. Here, Maverick uses his F-14A cannons in the final battle to take out the first Felon before dealing with the second one in a dogfight.
- The entire opening scene of the movie is still excellent. It's almost a replica of the original, from the fonts, the summarized history of the Fighter Weapons School, and then the Fighter-Launching Sequence upon the carrier deck; but with modern equipment, the scene now can be filmed with better lighting and more intense action from the crew and the planes. In short, it's the old sequence but improved by a thousand times. Oh, and let's not forget that "Top Gun Anthem" and "Danger Zone" are still blasting back-to-back like the original.
- It manages to avoid too much nostalgia pandering as it gives a combination of nostalgia and new elements.
- Very likable characters from the first film, like before, especially Maverick, Penny, and Rooster.
- Much like Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick is one of these movies that saved cinemas again during the COVID-19 pandemic, since it was the second film to gross $1 billion, leading audiences to return to cinemas after that.
Reception
Pre-release
After the teaser trailer arrived in July 2019, it was highly praised by fans alike, with many lauding the return of the series and some comparing it to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that some fans noticed that the flag of the Republic of China (known as the Taiwanese flag) and the Flag of Japan were missing from the bomber jacket of Cruise's character and accused Paramount of removing it to appease China-based co-financier Tencent Pictures. However, the Republic of China and Japanese flags were later restored, as Tencent ended up pulling out of the production, leading to them being uncredited in the final film. The second trailer was released in December 2019, and a new Snapchat filter for the film was introduced by Paramount, to engage "young-generation audiences".
Critical response
The early reviews of Top Gun: Maverick received tons of positive responses with acclaim for its jaw-dropping aerial action sequence, emotional weight, a worthy successor to the original film, Tom Cruise's performance, cinematography, and thrills. It's also being said very emotional, phenomenal & one of the best sequels as well as pictures.
Upon its official release in May 2022, despite a 30+ year gap between the original and the sequel, Top Gun: Maverick has been very well-received, and manages to be one of the best legacy sequels yet, alongside Blade Runner 2049. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 97% of 238 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The website for the critical consensus reads, "Top Gun: Maverick pulls off a feat even trickier than a 4G inverted dive, delivering a long-belated sequel that surpasses its predecessor in wildly entertaining style.", while the audience consensus reads, "If you loved the original -- or enjoy some good old-school action -- you need to speed your way to a screening of Top Gun: Maverick.". Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". According to Letterboxd, the film collected a 4.2/5 score.
During a ReelBlend podcast dated August 3, 2022, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino stated: "I fucking love Top Gun: Maverick. I thought it was fantastic. I saw it at the theaters. That and [Steven] Spielberg's West Side Story both provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I'd almost thought that I wasn't going to see anymore." A long-time admirer of the original Top Gun director, the late Tony Scott (and whom he worked with on True Romance and Crimson Tide), Tarantino added: "There was just this lovely, lovely aspect because I love both Tony Scott's cinema so much, and I love Tony so much that that's as close as we're ever going to get to seeing one more Tony Scott movie ... The respect and the love of Tony was in every frame. It was almost in every decision. It was consciously right there, but in this really cool way that was really respectful. And I think it was in every decision Tom [Cruise] made on the film."
Box office
As of July 14, 2022, Top Gun: Maverick has grossed $606 million in the United States and Canada, and $602.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.242 billion. It is the 22nd highest-grossing film of all time, the twelfth highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing film released solely by Paramount, and the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career. The film surpassed Mission: Impossible - Fallout on June 17, 2022, to become Cruise's biggest film after crossing $800 million worldwide. It also passed Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to have the highest Memorial Day opening weekend and also passed Shrek 2 to have the lowest second-weekend drop for a movie that made over $100M in its opening weekend. The film also surpassed Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) to become the highest-grossing film distributed solely by Paramount Pictures worldwide. The film also surpassed Titanic (1997) to become Paramount's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office. On June 26, the film crossed $1 billion, becoming the second film to do so during the pandemic era after Spider-Man: No Way Home, as well as becoming the highest-grossing film of 2022.
In the United States and Canada, Top Gun: Maverick will be released alongside The Bob's Burgers Movie and is projected to gross $85–100 million in its opening weekend, with some estimates going as high as $130 million. It will play in 4,732 theaters, the widest release of all time.
Videos
Trailers
Reviews
Trivia
- Lady Gaga was born in 1986, the same year as Top Gun.
- Unlike most films that debut usually 45 days after their theatrical releases, Top Gun: Maverick's streaming debut has not been set by the studio—Paramount streaming CEO Tom Ryan stated that the film would likely have an extended window exclusive to theaters.
- It was originally scheduled to be released on July 12, 2019, but was delayed to June 26, 2020, to shoot several complex action sequences. By March 2020, Paramount moved the film up two days early on June 24, 2020, and it was then moved to December 23 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization. On July 23, 2020, the film was delayed again to July 2, 2021
- Netflix, Apple TV+, and HBO Max attempted to purchase the distribution rights to the film, but Paramount refused to sell them. Jerry Bruckheimer, when asked about them and other streaming services attempting to purchase the distribution rights to the film at the film's premiere at CinemaCon, said that the film had always had a big-screen destination. At the film's premiere at Cannes, Cruise also denied that the film was going to streaming.
- The film was shot in IMAX format using IMAX-Certified Sony Venice 6K Full Screen cameras. Kosinski explained that the team spent more than a year with Navy forces using the IMAX cameras inside the cockpit, with four cameras facing toward the actors and facing forward, in addition to cameras mounted all over the exteriors of the aircraft. He explained that "the audience should feel the authenticity, strain, speed and gravitational forces, something that cannot be achieved through soundstage or visual effects, which needed a tremendous amount of effort and work." He added that more than 800 hours of footage has been shot for the film, exceeding the combined footage shot for the films in The Lord of The Rings trilogy.
- The late Tony Scott was setting up this film as his next directorial project. Sadly, a day before he was scheduled to meet with Tom Cruise, Scott committed suicide in 2012, leaving the project in development hell for several years, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer remained committed to the project, especially given Cruise's and Kilmer's interest.
- Val Kilmer and Ed Harris as well as Anthony Edwards in the archived footage were previously played Bravo, Echo, and Blade Ranger from the Planes series.
- In April 2022, Project ACES, the developers of the Ace Combat series, announced the release of an aircraft collaboration DLC for Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown with Top Gun: Maverick, released on May 26, one day before the film's release. A free expansion based on Top Gun: Maverick was also released for Microsoft Flight Simulator on the same day, containing the F/A-18E/F Superhornet and fictional "Darkstar" planes as playable aircraft. An interactive website was also launched in the same month.
- This was Joseph Kosinski's second Legacy sequel after directing Tron Legacy in 2010.
External links
Top Gun: Maverick at the Internet Movie Database
Top Gun: Maverick on Rotten Tomatoes
Top Gun: Maverick on Metacritic
Top Gun: Maverick on Letterboxd
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