• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • Elvis: Austin Butler

      REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • The Black Phone: Ethan Hawke as The Grabber

      REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • Jurassic World Dominion Logo

      REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion – Here we go again…again

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Three Men and a Baby: Tom Selleck and Ted Danson

      Three Men and a Baby is still awesome thirty five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2022
    • The Bob's Burgers Movie Poster

      REVIEW: Bob’s Burgers The Movie is Bob’s Burgers The Show, which means it’s great

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 28, 2022
    • Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

      REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 27, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Bg Elvis 4

      Elvis's 40 Year Reign (1958-1959)

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 4, 2017
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Nancy Drew S03e01: Kennedy McMann as Nancy

      Nancy Drew S03E01 Review: The Warning of the Frozen Heart - Uh-oh!

      By Salome G
      | October 10, 2021
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Riverdale S06e18: Camila Mendes as Veronica Lodge

      Riverdale S06E18 Review: Biblical – Spooky chaos!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e04: Heather Hemmens and Sherri Saum as Maria and Mimi DeLuca

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E04 Review: Dear Mama – Emotional?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Evil S03e03: Katja Herbers and Aasif Mandvi as Kristen Bouchard and Ben Shakir

      Evil S03E03 Review: The Demon of Sex – Contrived?

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Dark Winds S01e03: kinaaldá Ceremony

      Dark Winds S01E03 Review: K’e – Swoon!

      By Salome G
      | June 29, 2022
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04e03: Sibongile Mlambo, Lily Cowles and Michael Trevino as Anatsa, Isobel and Kyle

      Roswell, New Mexico S04E03 Review: Subterranean Homesick Alien – Treading water?

      By Salome G
      | June 23, 2022
    • Obi-Wan Kenobi Series: Ewan McGregor and Vivien Lyra Blair as Obi-Wan and Leia

      REVIEW: Obi-Wan Kenobi had a good season and little else

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 22, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
    • Mario Headphones

      The SNES Turns 30: A look at some of the system’s best soundtracks

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 22, 2021
    • Metroid Dread Poster

      REVIEW: Metroid Dread reawakens the old gamer in me

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 11, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • Wwe Payback 2017 Poster 2

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE Payback 2017

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 30, 2017
      WWE Blogs
    Recent
    • AEW Double or Nothing 2022: CM Punk vs Adam Page

      REVIEW: AEW Double or Nothing 2022 delivered an up-and-down show

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 30, 2022
    • MJF on AEW Dynamite 17th November 2021

      Getting AEW to the next level…

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 29, 2022
    • Raw 210501: Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

      May 21, 2001 – A (forgotten) date that will live in WWE infamy

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 39 Logo

      Your WAY TOO EARLY predictions for WWE WrestleMania 39!

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 20, 2022
    • WWE WrestleMania 38 Poster

      Your SO OF COURSE preview of WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38!

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 30, 2022
    • Wrestlemania 31 Paige Aj Lee 2

      BOOK REVIEW: The Women of WrestleMania is a balanced take on an under-valued slice of history

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 16, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Riverdale S06E18 Review: Biblical - Spooky chaos!
    • Roswell, New Mexico S04E04 Review: Dear Mama - Emotional?
    • Evil S03E03 Review: The Demon of Sex - Contrived?
    • Dark Winds S01E03 Review: K'e - Swoon!
    • REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll
    • REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie
    • Latest Comments

    REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

    By Matthew Martin
    | May 27, 2022
    Movie Reviews

    Tom Cruise is a franchise unto himself. At 60 years old, he’s a relic of a different era, when the name at the top of the poster didn’t belong to a brand but to a person, whose mere appearance in the movie was enough to ensure ticket buyers went to see it. Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, and more belonged to an era that has given way to “the next Marvel thing” or “the next Star Wars thing” or “the next Pixar thing” and so on.

    Yet Tom Cruise remains.

    The actor got his start in the movie business over forty years ago and has starred in well over fifty movies, but you can count on one hand the number of them that were either a critical or a commercial failure. His films have spanned a variety of genres but, other than the Mission:Impossible franchise, he doesn’t do sequels and has gone on record to say he doesn’t like going back to the well and revisiting a character or story. In fact, a decade or so back he specifically said he wouldn’t even entertain the idea of doing another Top Gun movie. And why would he? There wasn’t anything in the original movie that warranted a continuation, and the more time that passed the less reason there was to do it.

    But then a funny thing happened: So much time passed that a good reason to make another just sort of organically happened. Cruise went from being young enough to do a sequel in the late-80s but having no incentive, to being too old to do a sequel in a way that wouldn’t be degrading to, now, being just old enough to come back to the world as an older, seasoned Maverick, ready for one last flight.

    Somehow, in the process of releasing a sequel to what is, essentially, little more than a silly “machoism-personified” fighter pilot movie from the 80s, Tom Cruise has given the movie-loving world something we needed and didn’t realize just how badly we did: A real movie.

    Top Gun Maverick Poster

    Top Gun: Maverick is a real movie.

    I’m sure there are hundreds of computer-generated shots, but I have no idea where they are. I couldn’t point them out if my life depended on it. From where I sat, as the speakers boomed and my chair rattled, everything before me was as genuine an experience as the actor himself promised in the short video before the film started. That commitment to realism extends beyond the dogfighting scenes. Every possible mistake a movie like this (a seemingly needless sequel to a decades-old movie) could have made was avoided. As a microcosm of that: Early in the movie, there’s a scene when Maverick first sits down at the local bar, and we focus on Cruise as he’s sort of sitting back, watching the new Top Gun fighter pilots enter the room, banter, and basically remake a scene from the first movie. It’s like Maverick is watching “the cheesy, unnecessary Top Gun remake movie” playing out before his eyes, and he’s smirking at how silly it is. The scene lasts only for a minute or two before the movie goes back to being HIS movie, and it’s all the better for it. He’s the star. He carries the film. He makes it great.

    Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

    The plot is basically the greatest Star Wars movie that never was. There’s an enemy base that must be destroyed but the only way to do it involves flying low through a winding trench, below the radar and the sights of the surface-to-air missiles. You have to move fast because enemy fighters will be on their way to intercept as soon as they realize what’s going down. After getting through the trench you have to destroy a target that’s only a few meters wide, then bug out and hope against hope you don’t get shot down as you return to base.

    It’s the Death Star trench run and I’m not even complaining.

    The amount of precision flying required and the amount of enemy combatants swarming the area means it’s basically a one-way job. The Navy has recruited the best of the best from the Top Gun program and they have three weeks to learn how to pull off their impossible mission. Who better to train them in the crash course than Maverick?

    What follows is a straightforward plot, with few twists or turns or unexpected developments. It’s just a basic, point-A to point-B, story progression that, honestly, should not work as well as it does. The reason it succeeds is because the movie is made the way big-budget action films used to be made: on film and on location. It’s beautiful to look at, acted with sincerity, punctuated by a great score, and edited to move at a brisk but steady pace.

    Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

    Top Gun Maverick: Miles Teller

    The movie is divided into two halves that ping-pong back and forth throughout the runtime. There’s the drama that follows an expected pattern with Maverick and his love interest, the ageless beauty that is Jennifer Connely, along with tension between Maverick and “Rooster,” the son of Mav’s old friend, the late Goose. What should be a cliche-fest that bores is instead a logically told storyline that packs enough emotional punch to carry the viewer through the first two acts, and then rises to a beautiful crescendo in the incredible final act. The other half of the movie is the action, the fighter pilot spectacle. These scenes were always the best parts of the excellent original film, and they’re elevated to perfection here. The first movie relied heavily on stock footage, distant shots of professionals, and actors on soundstages, all coming together in a way good-enough to make you suspend your disbelief.

    This movie, with all the cachet that Tom Cruise commands, basically said…

    Gif - Do It Live

    As I said, I’m sure there is movie magic and trickery going on, but I’m also sure that some of those shots of Tom Cruise in the cockpit flying an actual fighter plane are actual shots of Tom Cruise flying an actual fighter plane. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but after seeing the past three Mission:Impossible movies, I’ve learned to stop asking that question and just to sit back and be amazed at what Tom Cruise can do in a movie.

    Both elements of the film—the drama and the action—come together in the film’s (perfect, perfect, perfect) third act, where I wondered if Maverick would live, if the mission would succeed, if he and Rooster would make peace…all the silly things that should be obvious left me on the edge of my seat, wondering, worried, leaned forward, eyes widened, fully engaged.

    The way a real movie should.

    10/10 – In an era of silly, unnecessary, embarrassing sequels to decades-old movies,  Top Gun:Maverick soared where the others crashed, succeeding purely by being an old school, throwback, Hollywood action movie, the way classic movies used to be.

    Highly recommended.

    Top Gun Maverick: Tom Cruise

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    Action MoviesTom Cruise

    You might also like

    • Heat and Casino are both still awesome, twenty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 25, 2020
    • Jurassic Park 3 remains the best sequel of the franchise

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 16, 2021
    • Mrs. Doubtfire is still awesome, twenty-five years later…

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 30, 2018

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Movie Topics

    Recommended for you

    • REVIEW: ELVIS beautifully mythologizes the King of Rock and Roll

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • REVIEW: THE BLACK PHONE is a flat, dull, rushed non-horror movie

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 25, 2022
    • REVIEW: Jurassic World Dominion – Here we go again…again

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 12, 2022
    • Three Men and a Baby is still awesome thirty five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 31, 2022
    • REVIEW: Bob’s Burgers The Movie is Bob’s Burgers The Show, which means it’s great

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 28, 2022
    • REVIEW: Top Gun Maverick is a sequel that soars!

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 27, 2022
    • Star Wars: 45 Years Later and the four people who made it happen

      By Matthew Martin
      | May 23, 2022
    • Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Read the Book Instead: The most disappointing book-to-film adaptations

      By Oliver Johnston
      | September 20, 2021
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter