Top Gun: Maverick

 

There is a part of me that can't quite believe it took 36 years to get a sequel to Top Gun. The original film was a monster hit in the summer of 1986. Still, after having seen the belated follow-up, perhaps taking it's time to get a sequel was the best thing for it. Rather than make a simple cash-in sequel back in the 80's, this sequel feels a bit more earned as we revisit an older, more experienced, but maybe not much wiser Maverick. 

After a test flight for an experimental new aircraft goes sideways, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise) is re-assigned at special request of Admiral Thomas "Iceman" Kazansky (played by Val Kilmer) to return to Miramar to train a specialized group of Top Gun graduates for a very specific and dangerous mission. Among the graduates he is going to be teaching is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (played by Miles Teller), the son of Maverick's late best friend, Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. Maverick's task is to train the pilots how to fly a low level mission to attack a facility that is being built to develop weapons grade uranium. The facility is located in a highly protected mountain region and the only way to get close undetected is to fly through the canyons, below the surface to air missles dotting the landscape to protect the facility. It's a near impossible mission that even Maverick is not sure someone could come home from. Among the recruits is the cynical Jake "Hangman" Seresin (played by Glenn Powell), who naturally finds himself butting heads with Rooster, who he sees as his direct competition. Other impressive pilots include Natasha "Phoenix" Trace (played by Monica Barbaro) and Robert "Bob" Floyd (played by Lewis Pullman). Maverick also reunites with a past love, Penny Benjamin (played by Jennifer Connelly) a single mom and local bar owner, and a new romance blossoms between the two. But as the end of training looms large and the deadline for the mission approaches, Maverick grows increasingly concerned his recruits may not be ready, especially with his commanding officer Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (played by Jon Hamm) breathing down his neck and well as facing the fact that he may very well have to send Rooster on the mission.

Joseph Kosinski takes over director duties for this film from the late Tony Scott, who directed the original film. The screenplay for the film was written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie. The filmmakers certainly took the task of crafting a follow up to the iconic 80's original head on, crafting a film that is at once familiar and notable step forward in the story of Maverick. It's a careful balancing act but the filmmakers pull it off beautifully giving the audience the nostalgic throwbacks the audience wants while crafting a new story with it's own dramatic weight to it with perhaps even higher stakes than the first film, leading to a genuine white knuckle climax that had me on the edge of my seat. The filmmakers were committed to authenticity as well, using as much real flight footage as possible, pulling off some genuinely impressive and thrilling sequences of aerial combat that surpasses the original film. This is balanced with well written character moments that give the proceedings real emotional stakes, especially between Maverick and Rooster who have some very real conflicts they need to resolve as well as between Rooster and Hangman, who have a rivalry that mirrors Maverick and Iceman in the first film. The film is beautifully shot by Claudio Miranda that complements the cinematography of the original film while also being it's own film as well. Topping things off is a fantastic score by Harold Faltermeyer, who returns from the original film, with additional music by Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer.    

Tom Cruise makes a welcome return to the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. As we catch up with Maverick all these years later, he's single again and living a solitary life serving as a Navy test pilot and spending his spare time fixing up a P-51 Mustang plane. He is clearly still carrying unresolved issues from the tragic death of his best friend Goose, which Cruise portrays wonderfully. Miles Teller is great as Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, portraying his character's pent up issues of his own quite well as both he and Maverick face their respective pasts. It also helps that he really does resemble a young Anthony Edwards from the first film, which causes some weird Deja Vu moments for Maverick throughout the film. Jennifer Connelly does well as Penny Benjamin, who has great chemistry with Cruise. They play off each other quite well, giving their romance in the film a real spark. Glen Howell is clearly having fun playing the cocky and cynical Hangman, crafting a palpable rivalry with Rooster. Monica Barbaro adds a much needed level-headedness to the mix as Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, giving her character a real focus and determination to win without also making her a total stick in the mud, crafting a well rounded character that I really liked. I also really enjoyed Lewis Pullman as Robert "Bob" Floyd, crafting a character who would be easy to dismiss but has hidden talents, proving appearances can be deceiving. Jon Hamm gives real presence as Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, giving a fresh spin to the sort of antagonistic authority figures you expect in a movie like this. He doesn't agree with Maverick's teaching styles throughout the film, yet plays the character with genuine concern for his cadets and wanting the mission to succeed. 

Top Gun: Maverick is a worthwhile follow-up that reflects on the past while also knowing not to get bogged down in it. It has a real emotional weight to it, brought to life wonderfully by it's characters portrayed by a great cast in a film crafted by a talented crew. It's buoyed by some truly stunning and thrilling action sequences that reminded me how much I've missed a good Jerry Bruckheimer action movie in the summertime. This is blockbuster filmmaking at it's best and at this time of the year, I couldn't ask for much more. I loved every minute of it and, after a number of release date delays, it was more than worth the wait.        

Downton Abbey: A New Era

 

There has always been something rather charming and comforting about Downton Abbey, both as a series and in it's transition to the big screen. With it's latest installment, the same charm and light wit continues as we once again rejoin the adventures of the Crawley family and their assorted adventures that is every bit as satisfying as what has come before. 

We rejoin the Crawley family with the wedding of Tom Branson (played by Allen Leech) and Lucy Smith (played by Tuppence Middleton). Shortly after, Violet (played by Maggie Smith) announces to her family that she has inherited a villa in the south of France after the passing of the Marquis de Montmirail and she intends to bequeath it to Lady Sybbie, Tom's daughter. They are invited by the new Marquis (played by Jonathan Zaccai) to check out the villa. Violet is not well enough to travel, so her son Robert (played by Hugh Bonneville), his wife Cora (played by Elizabeth McGovern), Tom, Lucy, Lady Maud Bagshaw (played by Imelda Staunton), Edith (played by Laura Carmichael) and her husband Bertie (played by Harry Hadden-Paton) travel to France along with Butler Carson (played by Jim Carter) and Mrs. Baxter (played by Raquel Cassidy). While there, they uncover some surprising insights into Violet's past, especially for Richard. Meanwhile, back at Downton, the house has been invaded my a movie crew to use the historic home as a primary location for a movie directed by Jack Barber (played by Hugh Dancy) and starring Guy Dexter (played by Dominic West) and Myrna Dalgleish (played by Laura Haddock) with Lady Mary (played by Michelle Dockery) overseeing things while they are there. Mary welcomes the money the production will infuse into the household, allowing them to make some much needed repairs, as well as the welcome distraction the production provides from her growing discontent at her husband Henry's constant travels. 

The film was directed by Simon Curtis from a script by series creator Julian Fellowes. Once again, Fellowes aptly juggles a number of different plotlines within the span of roughly two hours. The fact that half of the film goes abroad to the south of France freshens things up a lot with Simon Curtis and Cinematographer Andrew Dunn capturing some truly stunning scenery. Of course, Fellowes actually manages to sell this change of scenery rather well as we discover some more of the past of fan favorite Dowager Countess Violet Crawley leading to a couple genuine surprises. On the other side of the coin, the movie gets a little meta as Downton Abbey becomes a filming location to a feature film, adding a whole new sort of excitement and chaos to the household, especially as household members become increasingly involved as the production hits a unique speedbump: the invention of "talking pictures" in a plot development Fellowes cribs from Singing in the Rain (hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best). The film moves between these two storylines with ease while keeping the film moving at a brisk page. As always, with a cast as large as this, some have larger parts than others in the film, with Fellowes wisely giving larger parts to characters who weren't featured as heavily in the previous film. 

The film has amassed an impressive and massive cast with almost everyone coming back again for round two. Maggie Smith once again is a delight as Violet, handling the exposition needed to get the plot moving with ease and trading barbs with Isobel (played by Penelope Wilton). This is very likely going to be her final outing in the series and she goes out on top. Hugh Bonneville has some fun new bits to play in this outing as his trip leads him to discover some new things about his mother's past. Jim Carter as always is great as the high strung and fussy Mr. Carson, who has some amusing bits as he finds the decidedly warmer southern France in the summer time not well timed with his heavier British wardrobe. Michelle Dockery has plenty to play with as she oversees the film production that his invaded Downton and finds herself getting more and more involved in the production, especially with the director. She pairs well with Hugh Dancy, who plays director Jack Barber as they both try to keep the production going forward while a friendship develops between to two or perhaps more? The introduction of the two film's stars add some unique drama to the film as well. Dominic West does a great job capturing that Old Hollywood Leading Man presence while also showing his character has his share of secrets, including finding himself fancying Downton Butler Thomas Barrow (played by Robert James-Collier) and presenting him with an enticing offer for his future. Laura Haddock finds some nice nuance to her character of Myrna Dalgleish, who is finding her career jeopardized due to her heavy accent with the incoming invention of the talking films. She could easily just be a snobbish, high strung villain, but she is able to keep her character at least somewhat sympathetic, especially as the film goes on.       

Overall, Downton Abbey: A New Era will please longtime fans as the film serves up the same sort of gentle humor and melodrama the series has become known for with a style and grace. There is nothing earth shattering here, but in that case that is not a bad thing. The film moves the story of the Crawleys and all the beloved characters forward with new adventures while leaving the door open for future adventures. As a fan, I left quite satisfied and happy to have been able to spend another couple hours with some beloved characters.      

Firestarter (2022)

I don't think I have been more disappointed by a recent film than I have by the new adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel, Firestarter. It's no secret I have a certain affection for the original novel as well as the 1984 film. That said, even I would concede there was room for improvement with a new version. However, somehow this one is actually a worse movie by a wide margin.

Charlie McGee (played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong) is a young girl with a very unique talent: She can start fires with just her thoughts. It's a very dangerous talent that she struggles to keep under control, especially in times of emotional duress. Her parents, Andy (played by Zac Efron) and Vicky (played by Sydney Lemmon), participated in a medical test in college where they were injected with a experimental drug called Lot 6, causing them to develop unique telepathic and telekinetic abilities and it is also inferred this is the source of Charlie's abilities as well. This has led to the three of them being constantly on the run, trying their best to live off the radar due to being pursued by a shadow government operation known as The Shop who are very interested in Charlie's abilities. When Charlie loses control of her abilities at school, their cover is blown. The Shop's leader, Captain Hollister (played by Gloria Ruben) taps assassin John Rainbird (played by Michael Greyeyes) to capture Charlie and return her by any means necessary. When Rainbird finds them and Vicky is killed in the confrontation, Andy and Charlie have no choice but to flee, trying to figure out their next move. 

The film was directed by Keith Thomas from a script by Scott Teems, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. This new rendition takes some pretty big departures from the source material, which I am not necessarily opposed to if the changes are being made to help improve the story. But there is something off with this adaptation. It starts off decently enough as it focuses on the home life of Andy, Charlie and Vicky and how they deal with the unique challenges their family faces, especially with Charlie's very dangerous abilities. They even get into the opposing viewpoints of how Charlie should handle her abilities. Andy, knowing the physical toll his own telepathic abilities have had on him believes she should bury them down and not use them at all, whereas Vicky feels she needs to practice and train to know how to harness them correctly. However, as the film goes on, it starts to feel more and more rushed to get to the climax. This is when the movie diverts from the source material the most with almost a completely different ending, as well as one that feels wholly unearned. Perhaps most disappointing is it lacks the fireworks that the original provided so spectacularly in it's finale, leaving a very muted finale that feels like the whole production ran out of money as much of the destruction Charlie causes is curiously left off screen. Which is a shame, because with all the improved effects over the last 38 years, there was plenty of opportunity to craft some truly bonkers and impressive set pieces for this film. The film also just plods along with no real sense of suspense or tension at all, as though it were just going through the motions. On the other hand, the film does boast a solid score by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies. Which is ironic since John Carpenter was originally supposed to direct the 1984 film until he was fired off the project following the dismal box office for The Thing. 

Zac Efron leads the cast as Andy McGee and is actually decent in the role. It's hard to believe he is actually old enough to convincingly play a father, but he pulls it off quite nicely. He really captures the conflict his character is experiencing as he tries to figure out how to not only raise a child with some real dangerous abilities. Ryan Kiera Armstrong was really good as Charlie. She portrayed both sides of her character quite well, both the part that was afraid of her abilities and what they can do as well as the part of her that sort of enjoys it. Michael Greyeyes certainly adds some more nuance to the character of John Rainbird, who is at once a very effective and efficient government agent, but also one who hates his work and he does a decent job handling that duality. This also adds a interesting connection between him and Charlie as they are both the result of experiments by The Shop and unfortunately this is an aspect that the film utterly fails at exploring properly. Gloria Rueben lacks any sense of real menace as Captain Hollister and is barely established. She does her best with a severely underwritten character, trying to add dimension to the character but it's not enough to save it. 

This remake had some good ideas to it that should have been fleshed out and better explored that would have made for a more satisfying watch. It had the potential to surpass the original given the low bar that film set and yet it managed to mess even that up. There is a certain charm to the original film, along with some truly dazzling practical fire effects, that this film never captures. It's certainly not the fault of the able cast, but rather in either the writing or the editing. It starts out strong, but just gets worse as it goes along, speeding through the story while remaining rather underwhelming. It just smolders when it should be bursting into flame.       

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

The concept of a Multiverse has been a hot topic in cinemas lately, with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Everything Everywhere All At Once being notable previous films to tackle the subject, with Doctor Strange himself even factoring into the former film. This outing takes a darker tone than either of those two films as Doctor Strange and company find themselves facing a formidable and far more powerful villain 

Doctor Stephen Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) has been trying to get back to a sense of normalcy in his life. He is even attending the wedding of his ex-girlfriend, Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams). The peace is short lived when during the reception a large tentacle monster is attacking and chasing after a young woman, America Chavez (played by Xochitl Gomez). With assistance from Wong (played by Benedict Wong), he is able to defeat the monster and rescue America. She explains to Stephen and Wong that she is being hunted by demons due to her ability to traverse the Multiverse. Recognizing rune symbols on the monster, Strange reaches out to Wanda Maximoff (played by Elizabeth Olsen) for help only to discover that she is responsible for the monster herself due to being manipulated by the Darkhold, a source of dark magic. She intends to steal America's powers and use them herself to get back to her two boys, Billy and Tommy (played by Julian Hillard and Jett Klyne), the kids she created during her time in Westview (as seen in the Disney+ mini-series Wandavision). Realizing the threat an out of control Wanda presents, now as the Scarlet Witch, he takes America to the Kamar-Taj for protection. When the Scarlet Witch attacks the Kamar-Taj, this triggers America's power, sending her and Doctor Strange into the Multiverse. Since America doesn't have control over her powers, they set out to try and find help while also staying ahead of the Scarlet Witch, who is desperate to find a way to capture America. 

The film was directed by Sam Raimi from a script by Michael Waldron. Raimi does a good job keeping the pace up for the entire runtime of the film, resulting in a one of the leaner Marvel films in recent memory. The film also strikes a much darker tone than many other Marvel films, even edging into the horror genre in places with growing tension and a few decent jump scares too. It is a welcome change to the well worn Marvel formula as the filmmakers also work in a number of surprises for Marvel fans, only one that has been hinted at in the trailers. Like previous films featuring Doctor Strange, this one also brings the inventive and crazy visuals, accentuated even further as we factor in the alternate universes that Doctor Strange and America find themselves in, as well as assorted pocket dimensions. It was clear the filmmakers were having fun coming up with the inventive visuals, especially as Raimi himself sneaks in a few Easter eggs to his past films. Although, the film has stirred up a bit of controversy upon it's release with some suggesting it's too dark for a PG-13 film. I would respectfully disagree. As someone well versed in the horror genre, the violence and scares in the film are really rather tame and well within the confines of the PG-13 rating. It's just that this entry conforms more the the idea of what PG-13 should be than some other movies that could have almost been PG movies. 

The acting in the film is top notch. Benedict Cumberbatch once again proves to be a great Doctor Strange. He is given plenty to work with in this film as his character faces the choices he's made in his life and trying to make peace with where he has wound up and the decisions he's made. Elizabeth Olsen has a trickier role as Wanda Maximoff. It's easy to see where she is coming from in her character's motivations to get her boys back even as she turns to forces to accomplish this that manipulate her and turn her to the dark side. It's a difficult tightrope to walk being the villain of the film, but also coming from a very empathetic and understandable place but Olsen delivers it quite well. Xochitl Gomez is quite good as America Chavez, balancing a vulnerability as well as strength with her character. Benedict Wong continues to be great as Wong, who has long been a mentor of sorts for Doctor Strange as well and usually the voice of reason in a crisis, which he continues to be here. He plays off Benedict Cumberbatch well and the two make an entertaining pair. Rachel McAdams makes a good return as Christine, playing a couple different versions of the character in different universes and does a great job creating subtle differences between the two characters. Chiwetel Ejiofor makes a brief appearance as an alternate version of Karl Mordo and does a great job playing a character we're not sure we can trust or not.      

Overall, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is another solid Marvel film with a good pace that doesn't overstay it's welcome. I enjoyed the depths to the story as well. While it is a darker and scarier film that most Marvel movies, it doesn't get too dark or too scary. It does fall into the new age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that does require the viewer to not only keep up with the films but at least one of the Disney+ shows to fully understand what is going on. While those series have been excellent so far, it will be interesting to see how long audience patience for this model lasts.