So kicking off the positives, let's just cut to the chase; I loved this film, I thought it was a massive step up from the first film and did a fantastic job of taking an 80s classic, keeping what so many fans loved about up and expand on the foundation that the original film set up. This film raises what's at stake, keeps the story simple, easy to follow and does it all with respect.
What helps most is this film has a great cast. Tom Cruise is back as Maverick and I just love that whilst he's known for being a major action star, you kind of forget what a great actor he actually is, you've got Miles Teller who I haven't seen for a good while, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman who I didn't recognise until after halfway through the film and Ed Harris in a very small role.
I mean that's only a handful of who I mentioned and this cast is really impressive. They handled well by director Joseph Kosinski, they all give great performances, no one is the weak link of the ensemble and they all have great chemistry amongst each other.
Now I wanted this to be a separate placement but let's discuss the Val Kilmer appearance. Yes Val Kilmer is in this film and his scene is treated with such professionalism and respect. Its well known Val Kilmer has been seriously ill and had throat cancer so now he has trouble talking properly and integrating his illness into this film was just a beautiful scene to watch. It was easily my favourite scene of the whole film.
The flight sequences are outstanding to watch. Because the actors are actually flying the jets themselves, you feel their struggles, you feel their fears and when you see their faces contort due to the velocity, you really feel it. You know anything could possibly go wrong and because of that, the tension of the film keeps rising up and never stops until its over.
This film also features some surprising humour. Not a huge amount, it doesn't take away the tone but there's some very funny dialogue and well timed humour at times. There's one scene where Maverick has to climb out of a window and what happens during that scene has the funniest scene but also one of the most sincere and genuine heartfelt moments of the film.
This is also quite a thematic film that takes on the themes of redemption, regret, wishing you could've done things differently. These themes help work when you have a bunch of complex and interesting characters to work with and the journey that they go on in this film makes the story that this film features ultimately a redemption story and we get a lot of hard hitting and emotional scenes that these great actors are able to pull off.
But what made me really fall in love with the film is the amazing 3rd act. First the action sequences are amazing to watch and stunning to visualise but what really makes it work is the amount of payoff this film has for the character arcs, it completes subplots for the characters and even redeems a couple of characters as well. The third act even features such a crowd pleasing moment, it's hard not to cheer out loud which I will admit to doing. Sorry I honestly couldn't help it.
And as my final positive, the song "Take my Breath Away" is nowhere to be heard during the duration of this film. Why is this a positive? Because the original Top Gun made me hate that song the amount of times it played throughout that film and I have hated it ever since.
But unfortunately this is not a perfect film so let's move onto the negatives.
And the biggest fault with this film is somehow the entirety of the younger cast know all the lyrics to "Great Balls of Fire" and I do not buy that at all.
Yeah I'll be honest I was struggling for the negative and that's the best I could come up with. This is an incredible film and I really can't think of another negative for this film. I was so genuinely surprised by how much I loved this film and can see myself rewatching it a whole lot.
Overall I highly recommend this film. This is a legacy sequel that will please old time fans and will bring in newer fans as well. It has a whole lot of heart to it and if I had another way to describe it, it would be respectful.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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