Maybe so, sir. But not today.

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's top 50 films of 2022

#49 : Top Gun: Maverick

Tom Cruise returns almost four decades on for another bout of speed and need: this time he is the mentor to a new generation of navy fighter pilots, led by Miles Teller, playing the son of Maverick’s late wingman, Goose.

I never got round to watching this in the cinema and I suspect I should have seen it there, but I'm still very much looking forward to this as part of the Reed family New Years Day film extravaganza.

Oh yes - this is a film that's unashamedly setting out to push your buttons and boy do they get pushed. You don't really need any summary from me - people fly planes whilst either arguing about it or bonding over it, whilst often challenging authority at the same time.  It's also amusing how many other modes of transport are involved - there's no way they needed to include that massive yacht in there but hey, they could so they did.  And, of course, the ending is incredibly suspenseful even though you never have any doubt as to what's going to happen.

You don't need to have seen the original film, but it does add to the experience if you have done so because there are lots of lovely little nods back to the previous film and the 80s in general.  They also get Rooster's look as Goose's son so right - it's a top piece of casting and styling.  The inclusion of Val Kilmer is also very well handled - that definitely gave me the feels.

It is, of course, Tom Cruise's vehicle and he does exactly as well as you'd expect him to - the man really isn't looking too bad for 60.  But everyone else plays their part well - Jennifer Connolly as Penny (the girlfriend material), Miles Teller as Rooster (the surrogate son), Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Simpson (the authority figure to be challenged) and Glen Powell as Hangman (the cocky student who you just know is gonna come good) have more to do than most so stand out for me, but everyone plays their part well.

It is, also of course, very well shot - it must have cost them a FORTUNE to make.  Wikipedia tells me it had a budget of $170 million dollars and they "paid the Navy $11,374 per flight hour for F/A-18E (single seat) and F/A-18F (dual seat) Super Hornets and pilots to fly them".  That's quite some cash - but given the film's taken over a billion dollars, I reckon they've made it back.  It's actually Tom's most successful film and he's had a few successful films over the years with the original Top Gun having come out in 1986 - did you know it won an Oscar?  Which was Best Song for "Take My Breath Away" which I don't think I knew was written by Giorgio Moroder (or that he wrote "Flashdance - What A Feeling" which also won the Oscar).

Back to the film, it's easily as good as I was expecting - and you can tell it was good because the lovely Mrs Reed asked for the volume to be turned UP (this very rarely happens).  It was also very much enjoyed by the kids, so it was a hit all round.  We really should have gone and seen it at the cinema because it's exactly the sort of film that merits a large a screen as possible, but it was still very enjoyable and will no doubt get a repeat viewing at some point.

At time of writing, it's available to stream on Paramount+, which I fear is going to become a phrase I use more and more since it's one of the few I don't actually pay for (Apple+ being the other main one - it seems to have a few decent things on it, but not nearly enough to warrant shelling out cash for).  It's available to buy on all of the usual places though if you feel the need  - it's highly recommended if you've not seen it.

#50 - A lovely little film
#48 - Lots of talking about feelings