Ok so at this point Top Gun Maverick is most successful movie of the year.
It's something that I don't think anyone could've predicted and in a time when comic book movies
dominate the landscape this has come out and completely knocked it out the park.
It's easy to see why too.
Though I didn't even really like the first film all that much I think this is by far
one of the best movies of the year if not one of the best sequels of all time.
I've wanted to do a perfect scene video on it for a while but the movie is just packed
with them to the point that I don't even think I could choose a specific one.
Whether it's how they handle Ice-Man, the scene in which Maverick shows the run can
be done to his students or the final mission itself, it's all laid out to feel like some
of the best cinema that we've ever seen and it definitely deserves all the praise it's
getting.
Now throughout this video I wanna talk about why I love the movie so much, what it does
differently to other requels and also why it offers not only commentary on those but
also the state of Hollywood in general.
There's very much a style to how modern reboots tend to work and in a lot of cases they take
an established character from an old franchise, show they aint s**t, have the new guys come
in and pull them back so that they can sacrifice themselves so a new franchise can start with
lesser versions at the helm.
There's very much been this feeling in the fan community that a lot of what Hollywood
does at the moment is that it destroys the legacy characters in favour of propping up
the newer ones which can be seen across a number of movies.
The Last Jedi is a good example of this in that it takes the idea of Luke and the Jedi,
deconstructs what this means and shows the flaws in the heroes that we grew up with.
It then replaces them with the new generation and I know a lot of criticism about this technique
in Hollywood is that it drops the ball with the characters that we love.
I actually think The Last Jedi is alright but even Mark Hammill seemed a bit disappointed
with how Luke went out and it's important to note that Top Gun Maverick does the opposite.
It very much gives us the idea that just because someone is old, it doesn't mean that they're
obsolete and this is exemplified in Maverick who constantly shows the new generation that
they can learn from him.
It's a very important motif that is laced throughout the film at several points.
At the start Maverick's detail is threatened with being replaced by Ed Harris' drone programme,
he's not initially allowed to go on the main mission himself and there's this feeling that
because he's from the older generation that he's to be ignored.
However, the whole movie is about showing that the old ways still work and this is even
shown in the finale when we watch Rooster and Maverick flying an older jet as they go
against the new 5th generation ones.
However this idea extends beyond the film itself and I think once I go through this
you'll perhaps even appreciate the film more than you already do.
Now Tom Cruise is very much seen as the last movie star and even though he still looks
great for his age he's still seen as an older actor.
However, when you see what he does in his films it really puts the younger generation
to shame.
This is a guy who's climbing skyscrapers, dangling off the side of planes as they take
off and in this movie he also made sure that they used as little CGI as possible.
This adds to the authenticity of the movie and in a time where films are often more CGI
than not, he's shown that the old ways are better.
Top Gun Maverick feels infinitely more impactful than a lot of movies released today because
most of it is really happening.
You're sat in the cockpit with the pilots themselves and you feel every single twist,
turn and attack as they battle their way out.
This is a movie, something that pulls together over 100 years of film making to make one
of the most immersive experiences that you could ever have.
Now beyond this the idea of the old ways being better also extends to it's release.
In the pandemic several studios realised that they were hitting a point where they had to
release their movies on streaming services in order to make it so that they could still
return a profit.
Tom Cruise constantly pushed this film back because he wanted people to experience it
in a theatre the way it was meant to be.
Again there's this idea of the old ways being better than the new and in a time where it's
so easy to stay home and stream stuff, Maverick has shown that the Cinema is still relevant.
Watching this in IMAX completely blew me away and it's one of the most visceral times I've
ever had during a film.
Now why is that, well that's what I wanna discuss for the next part of the video but
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Now the plot of Top Gun works so well because it's structered very much in the same way
that a heist movie is.
I know there's a lot of comparisons to A New Hope and yeah, let's be honest the job itself
is very similar to the trench run even down to them needing to hit a bullseye on a specific
point.
However I think that a New Hope is slightly more varied due to it featuring the space
battle at the start, tattooine, the death star, lightsaber fight and then the final
battle.
Love em both but yeah I think Maverick is set up more like a heist where there's this
one job that the entire thing builds up to and they spend the majority of the movie planning
towards this.
When they finally get to the mission things go wrong and they have to think on their feet
in order to get out alive.
The enemy much like the police in a heist are closing in and they're attempting to get
out of there on a wing and a prayer before they get caught.
Now though it's very flash and over the top in terms of it's action set pieces, the film
also has a real heart to it.
We discover that Goose's son rooster attempted to follow in his fathers footsteps but due
to a promise made to his mother, Maverick has interfered with his career.
Early on we cut to his hanger and see photos not only of Goose but also his son, indicating
how much Maverick cares for him.
However, Maverick holding him back creates tension between the two even though there's
clearly a lot of guilt still felt over the death of Goose.
Now initially Maverick brought in as a teacher whos there to train the best of the best of
the best sir.
These Top Gun students have been hand-selected to be part of this highly imperative mission,
throughout we watch as Maverick tries to guide them but it's clear that something is holding
them back.
Whether it's Rooster flying too slow or Hangman leaving his team behind, they all have their
faults but we watch as these are ironed out throughout the film.
Now Maverick isn't perfect either and he has a bit of a strenuous relationship with not
only Rooster but also Penny.
This is a girl he ended up walking out on and though she still cares for him a lot it
shows that he's not been completely upstanding.
What can I say, he's a bit of a Maverick.
On top of this there's also Ice Man who is handled in one of the most respectful ways
that I think they could have done him.
Incase you don't know, Val Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer and this made it extremely
difficult for him to talk.
This is carried over to the character too and thus a lot of the time he talks through
text.
Thus when he actually speaks it means even more and his death carries a lot of impact
because he was such a strong presence.
Now it's clear that Jon Hamm's Cyclone, bloody Jon Hamm, he doesn't like the way Maverick
does stuff and he kicks him out of Top Gun.
He's clearly more about the mission and doesn't even mind that there will be lives lost on
the mission.
He takes over command, almost doubles the timelimit for the job meaning that everyone
will be sitting ducks once the job is over.
The entire team is down about the whole thing and they now believe that their lives will
be lost because they're not training to get out of there alive.
That's when Maverick comes in, drops the time from 2:30 down to 2:15 and one shots the entire
thing to prove that it can be done.
It'll make you fist pump the air and he's brought back in for the mission.
It's a real rush watching them doing it and the scene is elevated so much by the filming
style of the movie.
Being placed in the cockpit was fantastic and it adds even more weight to it because
it feels like we're on the job too.
However Maverick sacrifices his jet in order to save Rooseter and this leaves him behind
enemy lines.
Just as he's about to face certain death Rooster saves his life and together the pair have
to escape the cold, non descript country before the chaos dies down and the bad guys have
time to realise what's going on.
In an inferior jet they face off in dogfights against jets that we've been told throughout
are basically Terminators in the sky.
However as the movie repeatedly tells us.
It's not the plane its the pilot
They actually come out on top too but upon
making their way back to their ship another jet comes to play a game of chicken with them.
This scene is shot expertly too with us truly believing that this might be the end of them.
However, Han Sol...sorry Hangman comes in at the last second and he also redeems the
faults that he's been told he has throughout the movie.
Together Maverick and Rooster hug it out with the latter saying that he saved him because
it's what his dad would've done.
Even with a salute from Cyclone this moment hit me so hard and the celebration beautifully
echoed the one at the end of the first one that his father sadly wasn't there for.
Maverick made a promise throughout the movie that he'd make sure everyone got home and
he very much did.
Most films like this would require some sort of sacrifice with a hero going out in a blaze
of glory but this film brings everyone back.
It's very aspirational and in a time where films tend to be tearing down what's come
before to tell us how bad it all was, Top Gun Maverick has a very traditional style
that feels inspirational more than anything.
Watching Rooster take the hit in the training mission and then at the end against Maverick
shows what kind of person you can be and I think this idea stems from Maverick and it
even effects others.
Hangman has a complete change of heart and everyone in the movie grows in a way that
leaves them better off than they were when they started.
It shows that the past should be celebrated, that there's still relevancy in the things
that people are trying to replace and hell, the movie is just a good time.
We close out with Lady Gaga's Hold My Hand which perfectly fits the final flight with
Penny and Maverick.
Watching Jennifer Connelly standing next to the sports car feels like a classic throwback
to movies of yesteryear and seeing the two soar through the sky as the sunsets is a beautiful
way to end the movie.
Laced throughout this are shots of Rooster and the photo of him and his father get a
new addition with the celebration on the ship.
It closes out what is this perfect film that though slightly by the numbers shows that
sometimes the old ways are the best.
Whether its the practicality of the effects, the dedication that the cast put into making
sure the scenes were as real as they could be or the respect that it shows it's characters,
everything here works.
Top Gun Maverick is a classic and in years to come it'll be seen as the blue print of
how to do a Hollywood movie that brings people together rather than dividing them.
I really believe it's something that everyone can find enjoyment in and I hope you had as
much fun listening to me talk about it as I did making this video.
I'd obviously love to hear your thoughts on it so make sure you comment below and let
me know.
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If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of perfect
scene in Spider-Man Homecoming.
We break down the entire thing so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
see you next time.
Take care, Peace