Top Gun: Maverick Review- Definition of A Must See!
This is why we go to the movies! It’s a cliche phrase that may be tossed around on some movie trailers or posters, but it’s not cliche when it’s true. Top Gun: Maverick is why we go to the movies! We want to be entertained, yes, but we also want emotional storytelling that tells us something about ourselves and the world around us. We want the thrill of suspense, to root for characters, to be in awe of cinematography, and to share the collective experience of unity in watching a film with strangers.This movie gives you that and more!
We catch up with Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in present day. He’s a captain when he should be an admiral. The navy looks at him as a problem, but judging by the leather jacket he dawned over 30 years ago that’s now full of patches, he’s likely done more good than bad in his service. He’s still pushing the limits as he tests an expensive aircraft for the US Pacific Fleet. This film’s premise is simple and something we’ve seen before, but in the hands of a team of skilled writers (Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie) it somehow feels original.
Maverick is the best of the best and thus is called in to train the best of the best in the next generation of Top Gun pilots. There is a dangerous mission that anyone in their right mind would call a suicide mission. For the sake of space, the new recruits go by the call signs Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Bob (Lewis Pullman), Payback (Jay Ellis), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez), and Hangman (Glen Powell). Perhaps the most important recruit is Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller); he’s Goose’s (Maverick’s former wingman) son and there’s obvious history between Rooster and Maverick.
Here’s where the film soars. Exposition, history, and where relationships stand is told as needed and without belaboring the point. The audience can fill in the gaps, but the cast carries the weight of decisions made throughout the years in their performance. The theme of time and the facets of young vs. old, wisdom vs. fearlessness, and new birth vs. extinction are analyzed here. There’s a dual message happening on screen and off screen. On one hand, we see Maverick as he tries to whip the young recruits into shape. On the other, we see an aged Tom Cruise, one of the last of the Hollywood stars who would bring audiences out simply by name. The film is a summer blockbuster by definition and the cinematography of Claudio Miranda frames these characters in a larger than life way that harkens back to the days of Hollywood stars. Even the end credits seem to tip its hat to the era of movie stars who were inaccessible due to a lack of cell phones and social media, and therefore were giants in the public eye. There’s an intimacy and love from the cast and crew that went into making this movie that is both seen on the screen and felt as you watch it.
The nostalgic call backs and cameos help create that loving feeling. Minus one seen, they all work perfectly and don’t detract from the film but add to it. This sequel is a thousand times better than its Regan era, military propaganda predecessor, but there’s beauty in the way the two are linked decades apart. There’s beauty in seeing the aging of its characters physically across the films. There’s beauty in seeing a more mature, thoughtful film with a solid story and multiple things at stake.
This is a must see film. See it on the largest screen you can with the best sound system in theaters. I haven’t clapped, yelled in excitement, and cried with an audience in a theater in a long time! You feel like you’re in the cockpit with these pilots, there’s little to no fat in the story and each beat is earned in beautiful ways. You’re still reading? Get your keys, order your ticket and get to the theater!
Rating: A
"War Dogs" Review
I wasn’t expecting much from War Dogs. The trailer suggested it was about two frat boys who made their way to the top of the arms dealer chain to live an American dream that’s one for the record books. Director Todd Phillips has helmed films like Road Trip, Due Date, and Hangover 1 & 2, so that also put me in a frame of mind as to what the film would be like. While the film certainly is light-hearted and has its comedic moments, I was surprised to see a line of serious social commentary weaved throughout it.
Based on a true story, War Dogs focuses on David Packouz (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill). After being a massage therapist in the Miami area for the rich, and trying to step out into a failed entrepreneurial endeavor selling bed sheets, David is down on his luck. Enter his childhood friend Efraim, who tells him he has a million dollars in his bank account, not to brag, just because they’re boys. David is quickly sucked into Efraim’s world. He learns that the US government has a website that is opened to the public for bidding on selling weapons, uniforms, vehicles, and other bulk war needs.
This movie is slick as Efraim, the mastermind behind it all. It pulls some of its crime genre aesthetics straight from Goodfellas with the main character narrating over a freeze frame as he explains why Albanian gangsters are punching him. Weapons and uniforms have animated prices on them to stress the central theme of war being about money. The gimmicks work for the story though, as it helps us start to view dealing weapons as they do. You see the dollars and cents behind war, and thus you can see how so many profit off of it.
As David and Efraim start to go higher up the chain, David tries to keep things from his devoted girlfriend Iz (an underused Ana De Armas). Iz is strictly in the film as a beautiful one-note girlfriend, who gives conflict back on the home front as David goes into high-risk situations in Iraq and Albania. It’s the ride to the top and adventures along the way that are entertaining to watch and certainly humorous.
Jonah Hill is a scene-stealer as Efraim. From the moment he steps into the frame you can see he’s a slick talking con artist who will be whoever he needs to be for the person he’s talking with as David says in the film. Hill’s signature laugh, created for this character, tops it all off. Teller is our eyes-in character, and is solid in his role but nothing more, nothing less. We get two well done character performances from Kevin Pollack and Bradley Cooper to round out the cast.
As long as you know what you’re getting into this weekend, War Dogs is surprisingly entertaining. The reason it works, is because the comedy breaks up the insane, unbelievably dangerous situations we see these two twenty-somethings get involved in on screen. Yet, it’s sobering to realize that this is all based on reality. Right down to the amount of time (or lack there of) they are supposed to serve for their crimes, it really makes you think about our justice system, or lack there of.
Rating: C+
"Allegiant" Review
“Stop. Put your pencils down. Close your test book.” That’s what the teachers used to say to us at the end of a big test. All I needed to see was five minutes of Allegiant before I wanted to tell the screenwriters, check writers, studio execs, and anyone else who can get another Divergent Series movie created to “Stop! Put your pencils down. Don’t make another one of these!”
Tris (Shailene Woodley), her boyfriend Four (Theo James), best friend Christina (Zoe Kravitz), brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and flip flop peer Peter (Miles Teller) are ready to see what’s on the other side of the wall this time. So they venture out against the orders of Evelyn (Naomi Watts), who took over as Chicago’s leader after the last film, Insurgent. It takes the usual outfoxing to get to the wall, but thank goodness for the genius that is Tris.
The problem (among many) with Allegiant is that it recycles themes from its previous films. As the world of Tris and her friends opens to a new and unknown world outside the wall of Chicago, we’re simply introduced to a new society that has separated people into categories: pure vs. damaged. The film does a terrible job of explaining why some people are damaged and other people are pure. I tried to pay attention, but it was a quite convoluted exposition monologue given by David (Jeff Daniels), the new leader of the new world. What was made clear, was that Tris holds the key to cracking into the pure human genome. Unfortunately, in this franchise, Tris is a poorly written heroine who seems to step up only after everyone around her has done the work needed to let her step on their backs. It’s a boring watch.
The only intriguing part of Allegiant is its images. The environments and architecture are beautiful. The invented technology in the film is unique and gives a vision for our world’s future tech. It’s sad that it’s all used on a film with little story crammed into two hours of something we’ve seen before. In short, Tris and the gang have jumped out of the pot and into the fire. They have a new “villain” to take down with the same old issues to fix.
Unless you’re a fanatic of the series, please save your money and don’t go to the theaters to see this film. The creators didn’t spend time putting something fresh and coherent together, and thus you shouldn’t spend your time and money viewing it. I’d fall asleep watching it on Netflix if I were you.
Rating: F
"Fantastic Four" Review
“Fantastic Four” is simply the Tin Man. It’s got the same old cinematic structure we’ve come to expect in a super hero film, but it has no heart. In fact, the actors look pretty soulless as they get their lines out to fulfill their contracts. Even the film’s villain is cheated out of being seen for at least half of the movie. (He gets 30 minutes, if that.) It’s sad, because this movie could have finally gotten the Fantastic Four franchise on track. While it dug into new territory with a new approach, it still dug itself into a hole that we should all hope it won’t return from.
Reed Richards (Miles Teller) has been a genius since he was a child. He was able to teleport a toy car between dimensions with his friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) in middle school. After being brought into some kind of an off the grid super science college (??? it’s never really clear as to what the place is) ran by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), Richards teams up with Sue Storm (Kate Mara), Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), and Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell) to create a stable inter-dimensional teleportation device.
After teleporting a monkey safely, the boys are looking for glory with their discovery. They decide to teleport themselves, only to return infected by the other world’s energy. Of course, the U.S. government steps in to try and weaponize the group, and for some reason a guy who can turn into flames and fly, a woman who can make herself invisible and create force fields, a guy super strong and made of rocks, and a genius who can stretch his body, all decide that they can’t fight the government and will do whatever they say.
It makes no sense. Much of the movie makes no sense. What are all the design schematics that they pull up on computers, monitors and displays throughout the movie? We’ll assume it’s something real for the movie. As Sue Storm quickly presses keys almost violently in a particular scene, we’ll assume she’s really getting somewhere for the movie. When the Earth has yet another portal beam sucking its contents through it, we’ll assume...wait, no we won’t. This doesn’t make sense, and we’ve seen this stuff before! Any super hero film asks you to believe what you’re seeing is real, but this one goes to far.
I had high hopes for “Fantastic Four”. The Fantastic Four cast (Teller, Mara, Jordan, & Bell) are all stellar young actors and have individually done much better work, but together the chemistry in this film didn’t work. The rote story and dialogue will make you regret that you paid for admission and think to yourself “could I walk out and sneak into Mission Impossible?” Save your money folks! Don’t even get it on Red Box. Just wait until it’s on cable.
Rating: F