TOP CRUISE

First things first, make no mistake, Top Gun: Maverick is an unashamed popcorn box of a summer blockbuster. We're definitely not talking existential agonising in the vein of Antonioni or the spiritual conflicted anguish of Ingmar Bergman movies here. The whole film could almost border on parody except for the fact that it seems genuinely sincere in its intention as a crowd pleaser and exists in its very own self-contained Top Gun universe which is as much a fantasy realm as Lord of the Rings.

But nevertheless, it would be a mistake to underestimate the subtext of the movie which is actually more interesting and complex than one might be initially led to believe.

"It's time to let go."

Perhaps the spectre of Top Gun (1987) director Tony Scott's suicide (having jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, California) upped the ante for the long awaited and protracted film production in terms of bringing additional emotional and psychological heft in comparison to its paper thin predecessor. The British director's death may well have been the catalyst for the the screenplay's increasing thematic jeopardy in addition to actor Val Kilmer's life threatening throat cancer which adds extra poignancy to the story as his character Iceman is equally afflicted.

With the shadow of mortality hanging over this otherwise predictable movie, its hard not to think of what it symbolises in the wider sense about Tom Cruise and his longevity as a box office movie star without parallel.

The way I see it, the film is a mission statement that represents the professional work ethic and spiritual ethos of Tom Cruise (Operating Thetan Level 8) in his determination to save the sheer spectacle of cinema from obscurity due to the incessant onslaught of multiple behemoth-like streaming platforms by delivering as visceral a slice of cinema as Hollywood has created since 1987 when the first Top Gun came out.

This film is as much about Cruise's stubborn refusal to grow old and accept that he's now a veteran of the industry as it is about training fighter pilots for impossible missions. I wouldn't be surprised if the actor has been cooling off in the same cryogenic fridge freezer as Walt Disney in between filming scenes, so well preserved does he look in each and every frame of the film unlike the far more noticably aged Val Kilmer who has been physically diminished by disease.

But maybe that's the point.

With echoes of the fearless Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) in Philip Kaufman's The Right Stuff (1983), the opening scene of Top Gun: Maverick shows Cruise's character hell bent on breaking beyond the sound barrier with his Darkstar hypersonic aircraft reaching up to Mach 10. It's clear then that Cruise is equally driven to transcend death by continuing to remain at the top of the box office charts, continuing to pit his own death defying stunts against the excessive fake CGI of Marvel movies like some sort of action man cum saviour of cinema. Maybe that's why he got the five minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival this year - part recognition of his absolute defiance of gravity as a star and part recognition of his continued service to film as a medium to be reckoned with.

As disposable as a McDonalds, it's still impressive how well the film reminds us of more innocent times when watching a Hollywood movie wasn't quite so weighed down with laughable attempts at progressive box ticking agendas that come across as totally trite and insincere.

Maybe then Top Gun: Maverick symbolises the sun setting on America on the international stage along with the Hollywood dream and perhaps it signifies the beginning of the end for Cruise and his descent from the lofty peaks of unrivalled supremacy at the box office through the decades. But I doubt it.

As a star, no-one can say Cruise hasn't reached for the stars with this latest outing.

And as Norma Desmond said in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950).

"The stars are ageless, aren't they?"