Had to look that one up. I agree:
Old man rant ahead……
The original Top Gun was successful due to a simple two-part formula: The Tom Cruise Movie + Naval Aviation.
“The Tom Cruise Movie” is a term coined by some movie reviewer that I can’t recall. But, in general, it’s an acknowledgement that much of Tom Cruise’s success in the early years was a product of remaking the same concept over and over. Tom Cruise is a young, idealistic character (often with some demons from his past). He’s placed in a new, challenging situation, where he must somehow persevere. After some challenges, he ultimately comes out on top. Along the way, there is a love interest. Often an older mentor figure.
Risky Business: Tom Cruise and Early Adulthood
Cocktail: Tom Cruise and Bars
Days of Thunder: Tom Cruise and NASCAR
The Firm: Tom Cruise and Evil Corporatism
A Few Good Men: Tom Cruise and the Military Justice System
Modern military aviation is cinematic in its own right. It’s hard to make military aircraft not look good on the big screen. Naval Aviation gets you the added bonus of military aviation at sea, making it even more cinematic and adding to the potential drama.
“The Tom Cruise Movie” plus Naval Aviation resulted in an instant classic that made the studios a ton of money, catapulted Tom Cruise to ultra-stardom, and made the job of Navy recruiters much easier for years.
Based on the trailers, I’m not sure what formula Top Gun: Maverick is following. Certainly not the original formula. It looks to be more like: Big CGI + Complex plot + Some sort of Goose-related conflict + Many, many head nods to the original.
I’m sure it’ll be cool and make a shit ton of money. But it all looks so overdone, and just not as much of a fun movie as the original.