Top Gun 2: Maverick

[thecolorsblend]

When Kathleen Kennedy and the hacks at Lucasfilm are done ruining Willow and Indiana Jones, they'll be running low on George Lucas IP's to milk (Disney purchased his filmography, after all, not his creativity). Labyrinth will be next on their nostalgic hit list. Will it be a feature length production or a miniseries? It doesn't matter. The important thing is that it'll be content for Disney+.

Jennifer Connelly is receiving good notices for her work in Top Gun: Maverick. Disney will drive a truckload of money to her home and persuade her to reprise her role as Sarah. Lucasfilm might even use the mo-cap technology ILM developed for the ABBA Voyage virtual concert to resurrect David Bowie. Alternatively, they might cast some flavour-of-the-month pop star (most likely female) as his replacement. Sarah will have a teenaged child in the film, and that child will be female and of mixed race. That way the studio can deflect any valid criticisms of the production by labelling the disgruntled fans as racist misogynists.

Like everything else Lucasfilm has produced recently, Return to the Labyrinth, or whatever they call it, will be high on nostalgia and low on creativity. It'll get mixed-to-positive reviews from professional critics, but a cynical reception from audiences.

...

Okay, with the proviso that I know nothing, and care even less, about Labyrinth... I mean, damn, your scenario up there requires zero imagination. I was even going to mention "She needs to have a kid, she need to be a daughter and she has to be mixed race". But boom, you were way ahead of me.

I think it's funny that we can parody the woke bunch pretty easily. But they have no ability to parody us.

EDIT- Then I remembered Flight Of The Navigator. So, I popped open the wiki and what did I see? "In September 2021, it was announced that the remake, or rather reboot, was back in development with Bryce Dallas Howard set to direct and will feature a female protagonist."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator

Surprise freaking surprise. I guess it makes sense. Howard has gotten pretty far on nepotism so I guess there's no reason switching to a female protagonist for the remake needs to be creatively justified in any way.

[The Dark Knight]

Agreed on all points. Cruise knows what audiences want, and he knows how to deliver it. His role as a producer is almost as important as his role as an actor. He has the power and influence to veto certain things and push for others.
I imagine he's the kind of guy who doesn't enjoy most modern blockbuster movies, and he understands that jaded cinemagoers like us are crying out for something better. He's one of the few people in a position to give us what we want.

All true. He has the combination of being one of the last true movie stars still working today and delivering quality, which brings clout. As you say, it means he has a lot of say over what happens. It effectively bypasses the studio games which we know creates so many of the problems. It really is remarkable how Tom turned things around with his own personal public perception. After MI3 his brand was nearly in tatters with the Scientology and Katie Holmes issues. But he responded with good movies and toned the perceived weirdness way down. Focusing on being a movie man, which is all the public need him to be, now has him being celebrated. There's a lesson in that.   

[The Joker]

Finally got to check out "Top Gun Maverick" the other day, and yeah, all the praise is absolutely spot on. It actually subverted my expectations by not subverting them at all, you see every line and payoff coming from literally a mile away but it plays them completely straight. Without even a hint of irony. In a lot of ways, this movie made me respect Joseph Kosinski even more. As you get that there is a genuine appreciation and actual "Care" with the film (and characters, especially Maverick) that is readily apparent.

It's almost as if Kosinski looked at Woke Fate, and films that have your typical shoehorned goofy lines about 'the evil white guys', and said, "F That!". People want to be entertained, have wanted a genuine follow up to Top Gun ever since the first one, and you know what? Tom and Joseph gave us exactly that. A worthy sequel that honored the original, didn't try to "outdo" it, and actually expanded on Maverick's character and arc, without all the typical Hollywood political nonsense. I don't even want to imagine how this would have turned out without this duo in the drivers seats. It's 2022 and for once we were spared that much. Hell, they should get a award for that alone!

With Tom Cruise, ultimately, he's the kind of guy you really have to respect for what he puts into his craft. Sure, he may be weird with all that scientology stuff in his personal life, but as a actor, the guy is second to none. He always gets very involved with the movies he makes, and continues to do most of his own stunts with practical effects (as much as possible) and keeps churning out good products. In addition, he's an actor who seems to always be very cordial with his fans, and never talks down to them. Pretty much the antithesis of what you get out of many of the movie studios these days.


"Top Gun Maverick" feels real, heartfelt and kickass. Again, very much a return to form to what movies should be.

As far as 2022, it's the movie of the year for me, and it's not even close!

[The Dark Knight]

I don't usually post these videos, but this one explains what we've been saying rather well:

Just skip the sponsor break from 4.55-5.54.

[The Joker]

Speaking of videos, this interview was pretty good and insightful.

[Silver Nemesis]

Okay, with the proviso that I know
EDIT- Then I remembered Flight Of The Navigator. So, I popped open the wiki and what did I see? "In September 2021, it was announced that the remake, or rather reboot, was back in development with Bryce Dallas Howard set to direct and will feature a female protagonist."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator

Surprise freaking surprise. I guess it makes sense. Howard has gotten pretty far on nepotism so I guess there's no reason switching to a female protagonist for the remake needs to be creatively justified in any way.

I hadn't heard about that particular remake, but I can't say I'm surprised. Will they bring Paul Reubens back to voice Max, or will they go with someone more diverse and inclusive?

Who wants to predict what other eighties films might get the woke reboot treatment soon?

D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)...

...could be rebooted as D.A.R.L.E.E.N. (2023). That one's self explanatory.

They could make a sequel to The Last Starfighter (1984) that would serve as an allegory for the Gamergate controversy.

The hero would be a young girl called Anita, who despite being better at videogames than all of her male peers is perpetually trolled and excluded from the gaming community at her trailer park. Meanwhile Alex, the hero from the original movie, has aged into a broken down loser who refuses to help the Star League when they beg him to come back and train the next generation of pilots. Instead he recommends Anita go as his replacement, saying "She's the real last starfighter."

There could be a gender role reversal of the Joan Wilder and Jack Colton movies: Romancing the Stone (1984) and The Jewel of the Nile (1985).

This time Jack would be depicted as a scrawny emasculated wimp who writes racist and misogynistic novels. That is until he gets a crash course in female empowerment and intersectionality from badass adventurer Joan Wilder. She has to protect and save Jack at every step of their journey, while at the same time educating him about the evils of toxic masculinity and colonialism. In the end Joan would reject Jack because she's a strong independent woman who doesn't need a man in her life.

Now that I think about it, there are quite a few cult fantasy adventure films from the eighties that haven't received sequels or remakes... yet.

Hawk the Slayer (1980)

Dragonslayer (1981)

Fire and Ice (1983)

Krull (1983)

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Ladyhawke (1985)

Legend (1985) – starring a young Tom Cruise

Red Sonja (1985)

Mio in the Land of Faraway (1987) – starring a young Christian Bale

The Princess Bride (1987)

Clash of the Titans (1981), The Beastmaster (1982), Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Dark Crystal (1982), The Secret of NIMH (1982), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Sword of the Valiant (1984) and Highlander (1986) have all had sequels or remakes. The new Willow sequel series is coming out soon on Disney+, and there's a remake of Big Trouble in Little China (1986) in the works. But all these other eighties fantasy films I've listed have yet to have their sequel/remake potential exploited by unimaginative Hollywood hacks. But I'm sure some of them will do, in time. Especially if a studio exec happens to stumble across this thread while browsing the internet for ideas.

I'm still betting Labyrinth will be next. Hollywood isn't done plundering the eighties.

[Silver Nemesis]

I went to see Maverick again today. This is the first time in years that I've gone back to watch a film a second time on the big screen. Despite the movie having been out for several weeks now, the theatre was jam-packed. There were only a few empty seats on the front row. Most of the earlier screenings were fully booked.

It's hardly surprising then that the global box office is currently at $885.2 million. That makes it the highest grossing film of Cruise's career. It should cross the billion mark without too much difficulty. I only hope greed won't compel the studio to make a third movie. Two is enough. Don't taint it with a third.

Meanwhile Val posted this on social media the other day.

[The Dark Knight]

I don't see Tom doing a third. In the past he spoke somewhat dismissively about the first film, as if it was something to put behind him. But I think with the passage of time he acknowledged the fan demand and decided to give them what they wanted, while at the sw,e time seeing the potential to make a better movie with an even stronger focus on depicting practical filmmaking. Cruise has other films to focus on over the coming years, namely Dead Reckoning Part Two and the Space X project. I don't see how a third Top Gun would work, anyway. Maverick worked so well because it dealt with the legacy of Goose, giving the original more meaning and actually making the sequel seem like a necessary story to tell for a sense of completion. It's a slam dunk in every aspect.

[Silver Nemesis]

Maverick has now grossed more than a billion dollars at the global box office: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/top-gun-maverick-box-office-billion-tom-cruise-1235172044/

[The Dark Knight]

Much deserved. An aspect of the movie I believe satisfies audiences is the feelgood conclusion. There are high stakes and the characters encounter emotional obstacles, but they are all balanced out and the tone doesn't become overbearing. It's a celebration of simply getting on with the job and working together. It's a retro film in spirit, right down to the opening and closing credits. I'm a particular fan of the end character title cards which older movies like Predator and The Blues Brothers had. Maverick is the right film at the right time and it feels like cinema has truly been relaunched again.