davebartle

Everyone involved in this movie tried so hard. All the choreography, singing, set dressing, special effects, casting, acting (with the exception of Reynolds who seems to have figured this movie was a mistake and phones his performance in).... so much effort to produce such a bad movie. It probably could have been good but it isn't., it is more cringe than anything and seems to sum up the state of film making in 2020.

I suspect somewhere in the development cycle of this movie, the director lost control to a committee from Apple, just look at any background scene and it becomes obvious this is correct.

If you loved Elf, do not destroy your pleasant memories by watching this movie brought to you by an Apple committee.

If this was a made at home fan flick, it would be a solid 4 out of 10 but it was made by the Wachowskis. How is it this bad? The meta references, the exposition, the hopeless attempts at philosophy, the exposition, the cheap and characterless replacements of Laurence Fishburne and Hugo Weaving , the exposition, the constant flashbacks to the original matrix (as in the actual scenes from the movie being shown), the hopeless attempts at injecting humour, oh and did I mention the exposition? There is a lot, explaining every little aspect of the movie in detail is the central theme of this movie. I was actually surprised when they used a motorbike without explaining how internal combustion engines work.

The only good thing was Jessica Henwick but she was under utilised and her character didn't experience a genuine arc.

If you loved the first movie and thought the next two were okay but probably should have been one movie, do not watch this, it will only damage your love of the first one.

Top Gun is one of my favourite movies, so I was very nervous as I waited for Maverick to begin, I knew from long and bitter experience that Hollywood has no intention of making enjoyable movies, instead preferring to make bland generic Marvel movies or deconstruct the movies that people actually enjoyed.

My only hope with Maverick was Tom Cruise and knowing that he is not the normal actor, instead being a genuine movie star who wants to entertain his fans and produce the best movies possible.

A couple of hours later, I emerged in total shock. Maverick did almost everything right (a bit of exposition could have been cut), it paid respect to the source material, even paying respect to the character of Maverick himself. The supporting cast were all excellent and likeable. The pilots were selected because they are the best of the best period. There was no attempt to awkwardly and artificially insert a message or tick boxes, they had earned their place and were believable and likeable as a result.

Then comes the plane combat...wow. It is visceral, the practical filming shows just how intense and brutal pushing yourself to the limit is. Seeing the actors genuinely trying to remain conscious during high g turns is something that could only be achieved with them in the air experiencing it.

This is how a sequel should be made. If only Spielberg and Lucas would step aside and let a good director such as Joseph Kosinski give Indiana Jones fans the sequel they deserve, not the sequel that is about to be forced on them by directors who no longer know how to make a good movie.