Tom Cruise // Top Gun: Maverick
A synonym for versatility and nostalgia!
To say that I belong to the same era where Tom Cruise still leaves and breathes movies, will be an understatement. To belong to this era is a blessing, a divine act of mercy. At times, I wonder, how can someone churn out movies after movies, do his own stunts, be as sharp-looking as possible even in his 60s, is Tom even a man at this point or a movie-making machine?
May 16th, 1986, saw the release of Top Gun, the film that developed a cult following later, and I was a part of that cult too when I saw the movie back in 2016 (30 years later huh!). The film rode on being sassy, flamboyant, walked on the hairline thread of life and death in those F-14 Tomcats, and had the right mixture of romance, being dangerous and selfish and dangerously selfish. And the soundtrack! How can you listen to Take My Breath Away by Berlin and not be swayed, or the OG Top Gun Anthem, the rings and bells of it, and feel the goosebumps within!
Well, Top Gun: Maverick is the perfect summer blockbuster! Just the like perfect scoop of your favourite food that makes you go “oomph” in your mouth. Harold Faltermeyer returns to reconstruct the Top Gun Anthem, and the other names on this track are Hans Zimmer and Lady Gaga! The movie starts off at an exhilarating note, showing us that Maverick hasn’t really changed much and likes to play on the lines of danger and thrill, still! He is recalled by the Navy to be an instructor for Top Gun again, according to orders by Iceman(Val Kilmer reprises his role and excels in it!). He goes back, meets Penny, meets Goose’s son, and the story moves forward.
Top Gun: Maverick is the perfect enigma, the most well-made concoction of the whole range of emotions, tension and exhilaration. The dogfighting and even the just-flying sequences are just spectacular, a dazzle, a stunner, a treat to the eyes! The film was shot in some parts with IMAX, and that shows. The sound design is impeccable and in Dolby Atmos enabled theatres the sound of everything feels so delightfully intoxicating! The planes are faster, the team faces more challenges, the dogfights are like a seasoned painter’s experienced brushstrokes on their canvas, just to make the quintessential masterpiece.
A sequel to an originally great, cult-following developing film, that doesn’t make jokes at the expense of it’s predecessor, pays tribute to the original in all ways it can , manages to keep the spirit of the original alive and yet surpass all kept expectations, this is a movie that you can’t miss! And real plane flying and fighting sequences, not a CGI simulated experience that people now crowd forward to(looking at you — MARVEL) — This is an adventure that is to be done at the movie hall. Book your tickets and just go and watch it!