TOP GUN: MAVERICK
TOP GUN: MAVERICK in IMAX
This is not a review of a movie. This is a review of an experience. One in which I was graced with a 75-foot-tall image of Tom Cruise’s face. More than once. If that kind of image isn’t awe-inspiring, I don’t know what is.
There are only about 400 IMAX screens in the United States. Far too few in my humble opinion. Then, there are variations on a theme. Is it true IMAX with 70mm capabilities? Is it an IMAX retrofit? Maybe it’s IMAX laser or digital. All of which produce a different experience. Here in New York, we are have six of those 400 including the GT, the Grand Theatre, the biggest of the big. And that, of course, is where I saw Tom Cruise’s face, small skin growth included. (something I had never noticed before, but how can you miss it when it’s practically as big as you are.)
I am, of course, talking about this past week's re-release of Top Gun: Maverick in IMAX (GT). It’s what I would call a comfort movie for myself, one I’ve seen several times already. I even saw it when it first came out in theaters, but sadly, I didn’t get the IMAX experience because I was living in lowly Winston-Salem, NC (which im currently discovering does have an IMAX digital screen where I could have watched this, but I didn’t know about it because apparently Google didn’t exist back then, or because I’ve become much more of a movie snob since then. I also discovered IMAX digital is referred to by some as LIEMAX, which I will now be doing all the time because, again, I am now a purist snob). Anyway, that evening I experienced a film that would rock my world. Does it compare to some of the best movies of all time, like The Warriors and House of 1000 Corpses, no, of course not. But it does exactly what a movie like this is supposed to do, entertain and take us on a wild journey with some wonderful nostalgia baked in.
Back to New York: As we settled into our seats, I was reminded of a conversation I recently had with a friend about the importance of movie theaters. She stated that it wouldn’t matter at all if theaters disappeared. I disagree. Theatres are important because of moments like this. Hundreds of fans settling into this space where we are all entirely locked in on the same thing – experiencing a film together. The ups and downs, the rollercoaster ride, the hatred and love. It’s a beautiful thing. And it somehow becomes more beautiful when we all know what’s going to happen and can anticipate the excitement, reciting a line together as Tom Cruise says it coyly on the big screen.
The lights go down and up comes a former love of Tom Cruise, larger than I’ve ever seen her. Nicole Kidman walks through a wet parking lot in her stilettos. She tells us about magic, coming together to laugh, and cry (but only at an AMC) because we all need that indescribable feeling when the lights dim and we go somewhere we’ve never been before. And we all applaud, because that’s now what we do after Kidman graces the AMC screen. I find the ascension of these ads from pop-culture ephemera to high art to be incredible. What was once a goofy little bit before the film has become a cult favorite. Maybe the shortest cult film of all time? Kidman herself even said she believed it would run for six months and then disappear. But alas, here we are, disappointed if we see a movie without it.
As soon as the film starts, I’m giddy. We watch Pete Mitchell (Cruise) hit Mach 10.3 in a new class of manned aircraft, only to explode in a fireball. I’ll admit when I first saw this movie, I was convinced he was dead. I genuinely thought they would pass the baton that early. How naive of me. Of course he would die at the end, duh.
In quick succession, we’re introduced to the gruff Rear Admiral Cain (Ed Harris), who truly kicks off the story by sending Pete back to North Island, where Top Gun is located, and then Cyclone (jon Hamm) who has become so well known in the comedy space, it’s strange to see him playing such a dick.
Once we’re given Pete racing a jet on his motorcycle, we get to one of my favorite scenes in the film. It’s the first scene in The Hard Deck where we set the groundwork for everything that’s going to come. The scene clocks in at around 11 minutes, during which we catch up on the backstory of Pete and Penny (Jennifer Connelly). We’re introduced to the Top Gun graduates who have been invited back to the school for the mission, learning who we’re going to be following and so perfectly learning who each one of them is in a matter of moments. A few of the former graduates meet Pete without realizing exactly who he is, adding nothing more than some fun immediate tension that won’t go any further. And lastly, we get the perfect connection of Rooster (Miles Teller) back to his father, Goose when Rooster plays Jerry Lee Lewis’ all timer Great Balls of Fire on the piano and just misses Tom Cruise getting tossed out of the bar. But Penny doesn’t miss Pete watching Rooster play the song. It’s going to inform a part of their storyline and it’s all done with a quick glance.
I want to stress that when anyone watches this scene it feels so natural. Of course everyone is there and of course we get the near connection of Rooster and Maverick, because we can’t get into that storyline too early. It's a dance that is executed perfectly, and also one that is so incredibly hard to pull off. I would love to know the process of Kruger, Singer, and McQuarrie, on writing that scene. My guess is it took A LOT of iterations and combining numerous other scenes into one for it to become the seamless and streamlined scene we see on screen. Laying the groundwork like that, so succinctly, is a masterclass of early character introductions and dynamics that will inform the rest of the movie. It caps off an impressive first act which has done so much heavy lifting and we’re barely into the meat of the story.
And then, we’re treated to another hour and a half of pure joy and adrenaline. I can’t think of a better movie scene than when Pete straps up to show the graduates how it’s done. You weren’t able to do the mission in two minutes and thirty seconds? How about two fifteen, he says. That’s impossible, right? Of course not, this is a Tom Cruise action vehicle. He’s going to get it done with Mission Impossible-esque timing. And it’s exactly what we want.
That moment kicks us into the action-packed final third of the movie. And here again, when Pete is shot down, the moment mirrors a line Penny says in the aforementioned larger team introduction scene stating, “Somehow you’ll be back in a fighter plane with your tail on fire.”
I was positive that was it for Maverick. He’d had a good run; he died saving the life of Rooster, his debts were repaid, so why would he come back? Allow me a moment to rant some here, I don’t think we have enough death in these franchise movies. Give me more stakes, I want to know that this is actually life and death! All too often, we just skate through a movie knowing our hero won’t die because of course, they can’t. Top Gun dared to do this with Goose and it would have been electrifying (and of course devastating) if Maverick had died. But it also would have been such an incredible character moment and we would have gotten to see some complex emotions from Rooster and the Navy writ large.
But no, I must reiterate this important fact: TOM CRUISE CAN’T DIE. Stop thinking that he’s going to die, it’s not going to happen! I stand by that for as shocking as it would have been, it also would have been an incredibly fitting end to what is one of the better duologies in film history.
As the film concluded and Lady Gaga’s voice crooned, “So cry, tonight!” we exited the theater thrilled to have experienced the greatest movie of our generation in IMAX. It was hot and stuffy outside and despite being in the Big Apple, everything just felt small and unimpressive. I tried to liven things up by accosting a stranger with the line, “That makes him an Ace.” But they ignored me as all good New Yorkers do to oddities on the street.