Top Gun: Maverick -Hot Take

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 Top Gun: Maverick (2022 US) Tom Cruise reprises his role as Maverick in the latest chapter of this franchise. The word I would use to describe this film is satisfying. There are several reasons for that. First is the obvious, nostalgia. Nostalgia is hot right now but TBH it has been for a long time. Remember "Return to Gilligan's Island"? or more recently "Picard"? If done right it can be very satisfying. Returning characters, threads resolved, check check. The script was quite derivative but I feel that was part of the appeal. At one point I thought Maverick was going to say "turn off your sensors and use the force" or "I used to shoot womp rats that size back on Tatooine." That's a callback to another old franchise in an old franchise. Nostalgia stacked on top of more nostalgia. The Russian Doll of post pandemic film. I am not a big fan nostalgia or prequels. The only way to go is geriatric to preschool or Picard to Muppet Babies. I think it lacks imagination. BUT there is a time and place for everything. Audiences were not willing to leave their fortresses to go to the movies as we started to open back up. Satisfyingly comfortable film experience? Yes sign me up. I need that right now. and that's OK. Another element that made this film so satisfying is the editing. Eddie Hamilton did a fantastic job with the pacing. Tension, Tension, Tension and Boom (literally) targeted acquired and destroyed. Hamilton was nominated for an Oscar for that but lost to Everything Everywhere All At Once. Hamilton could not do that though without the incredible footage from Claudio Miranda. Aerial photography is bloody hard. Just ask Harry Perry the cinematographer from Wings (1927). I love how the US Navy is right there raising their hand saying pick me, pick me when it comes to Hollywood. The Navy is heavily featured. It really works well in this film and many more. Top Gun won in the Sound category but nothing else. Awards aside this film is credited with getting people back into the theaters. That's a lot! People don't say that about Tar. Find it on Paramount, Amazon and available for rent on most streaming. 

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