I feel the need, the need for TOP GUN MAVERICK

Watched Top Gun 1 over the weekend. Forgot how sweaty it was in the eighties. Wow Tom Cruise looked young. Approximately 5 years younger than he looks now. It's a very emotional film. Man I hope they bring Meg Ryan back, she was fantastic.

Ryan is not returning. Probably for the best, as the work she's had done has pushed her hard towards the uncanny valley.

It's a real shame she's done that to herself. I think she would have aged pretty gracefully.

Maybe? But I think You've Got Mail is the last time she looked...well, natural.

If you get search for images of her from this year and current ones of McGillis...a marked difference. Granted, McGillis was never traditionally hot and she's not AMAZING looking now but she looks a lot more...well, normal and natural now.

Early cast listings for the film had a different actress listed as playing Meg Ryan's character, but I guess those scenes got cut.

Cruise was at Cannes yesterday. His first time in 30 years (since Far & Away) and it sounded like a wonderful madhouse. They even gave him an honorary Palm d'Or, of which only 15 have been given before.

Goddamn, this is gonna be yuge.

God, Tom Cruise is such a dick to Kelly McGillis in the first one. It's a textbook example of bad relationship.

While I would have liked to see McGillis in this sequel in theory, anyone paying close attention to that relationship in the first film knows that it was never going to last. Maverick is just way too goddamn immature for her.

Hey he was processing a lot of stuff in that film. And she was mean to him in front of the other pilots.

Just came back from the theater. It's not much dumber than it needs to be, and the flight scenes are out of this world.

A surprisingly quiet and somber film when it gets out of the cockpit, though.

How sweaty is it? Like, we talking just a glisten or like covered in oil? These are the important questions.

The first film is incredibly sweaty.

Everyone is going to see for the jet porn first and Space Pastor Dorian Gray second.

Doc Happenin wrote:

How sweaty is it? Like, we talking just a glisten or like covered in oil? These are the important questions.

It's positively dry!

...apart from that one scene where there are boys, girls and some playing involved.

It's really good. Easily Cruise's best non-M:I film since Edge of Tomorrow. Also the first one in awhile (ever?) to address the fact that he is aging AND won't live forever. He looks a bit more weathered by time here (and even moreso in the intro that played in front of the film at my theater). Not in a bad way, but a fitting one. It suits him. Granted he still looks a solid decade younger than he actually is (he turns 60 this summer), but he's a touch more gaunt and there are more lines on his face and neck. It's a good look.

The mission plot is very pulpy, way more than I expected it to be, and that's also a good thing. The supporting cast is also great. All of the new pilots are fun, particularly Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, and Lewis "son of Bill" Pullman. Miles Teller is also great here, giving us a character that is his own person, while also having echoes of Anthony Edwards in there too. Jennifer Connelly is great as always. I was afraid her love interest character might feel perfunctory, but she never does. It's a nice mature relationship with some actual nuance to it, instead of largely being based in lust like Maverick's fling with Charlie in the original. Kilmer's role is also very touching. I'm glad they made him integral to it all, instead of just a fleeting "because he was in the original" cameo. Also, if you're going to have gruff angry military commanders in a film, you can't go wrong with Jon Hamm and Ed Harris.

Score is solid. Nice mix of Faltermeyer's themes amidst Zimmer & Balfe's work on it. For all the ballyhoo about Gaga's song (which I think is fine, but not amazing), it's not really a focal point for the movie at all. Yes, "Danger Zone" gets some play. No, "Take My Breath Away" and "Playing with the Boys" do not. There are plenty of callbacks throughout the movie, but they almost always feel organic and/or haunting.

I'm really, really pleased with this. Just a damn good old school blockbuster from top to bottom. One of my favorite films of the year so far.

Excellent to hear, Schlock. Were you in a packed theater? I'm wondering if there are any big, audience moments that get a yell or a clap?

Okay, so this is utterly fantastic. A sequel that improves on the original in damn near every way. From having an actual mission from the get go (which is more understandable than a nebulous 'points' system) to giving Maverick more than just the one emotion, to easy to follow fighter action. It's just fucking awesome. The last half hour had me fist bumping and throwing out quiet 'fuck yeahs' every 30 seconds. I loved the utter contrivance of getting Maverick and Rooster in the same plane; it's a contrivance, the movie knows it, you know it, but it still works. None of this should work. There shouldn't be a sequel to the original, and yet...

I saw this on the biggest goddamn IMAX in the Northeast, and I'm already jonesing to go again.

Well, with Cobra Kai handling the dark/light training of the newer generation, and now Maverick outclassing anything resembling a dogfighting movie (even doing the Death Star run excellently), why do we still have Star War again?

It does give you that old-time Post-movie Feeling where everything around you seems a bit brighter and laden with triumphant meaning. When I was driving down the street from the theater, a pigeon flew by and I yelled BIRD STRIKE! to my wife.

I’m almost shocked by how good a movie this is. It’s an optimistic and feel-good crowd-pleaser on a level I was not expecting.

Surprisingly, it has some nice thematic stuff about legacy, about a character looking back at his life with some amount of regret, but it’s never navel-gazing or anything close to dour. It does something thoughtful and contemplative (by the standards of this sort of movie, at least) without sacrificing escapism, and that’s not easy. All the emotion that is employed in here mostly works really well. Like the nostalgia (which is obviously in play), it’s not here just as a cheap crutch, but is instead actually central to what the movie wants to be about, and it’s there in service of delivering a cathartic character journey to the audience.

On an action movie level, the third act is close to astonishing for the amount of visceral excitement it’s able to put on the screen. It’s a finale filled with some jaw-dropping, spine-tingling, thrilling stuff. Surely a large amount of the action involves fakery, but most of it is some of the most convincing aerial dogfight stuff ever put on film. Does it involve contrivances? Yes. Does it work? Absolutely.

The worst thing that could be said about TOP GUN: MAVERICK is that it leans on formula. But sometimes, formula -- well-executed -- is exactly what’s called for to produce the most satisfying result. And this movie is nothing if not a hugely satisfying entertainment.

Yes, this is a complete triumph. A remarkably enjoyable action film sequel that uses Tom Cruise perfectly, a legacy character looking back at his life and dealing with the changes that have come, but applying all his force and experience to win the day. It looks incredible, sounds amazing, and has a terrific last-act twist to really send the audience home cheering.

I have to say, Tom's unwillingness to allow anyone to score points against him did glare a little at times, but it's all wrapped up in a way that makes it natural, totally acceptable. Of course no one else would be able to fly that course except Tom. Of course Tom can still play topless beach football and score, of course no one can shoot Tom down but Tom. His struggles to connect with Rooster, the touching scene with Iceman, and the lovely romantic moments with Jennifer all underscore just how perfect a movie star Tom is.

Basing the training specifically for the mission was a great writing choice.  By the time you're in the finale, you already know the goals and challenges, so there's no sudden info dump and you can just soak everything in.

This also shows that less is indeed more.  A desperate dogfight against three enemy aircraft carries more weight than a CGI swarm I can't make heads or tails of.

I feel like how much this works for you greatly depends on how much nostalgia you hold for the original. Because while yes the flight scenes are white-knuckle fantastic, everything else really depends on your emotional connection to the first film. Yes, the Ice scene is touching, but how much of that is us bringing in our affection for Kilmer and his situation?

I had a good time, but I'm hesitant to throw out words like "fantastic" and "triumph."

I like but don't love the first one, but this felt so much better constructed.