Movie Review - TOP GUN: MAVERICK...

I watched Top Gun: Maverick in IMAX at AMC theaters earlier today, and needless to say, it was an exhilaratingly kick-ass movie!

We'll never know how the late and great Tony Scott would've helmed the sequel to his 1986 action classic, but one thing's for sure, director Joseph Kosinski did a terrific job bringing the spirit of the original Top Gun film to this latest flick.

Tom Cruise was once again awesome as Capt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, while Miles Teller was fantastic as Lt. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw...the son of the late Goose (Anthony Edwards).

Jennifer Connelly did a commendable job filling in the shoes of Kelly McGillis as Maverick's new girlfriend and strong-willed bar owner Penny Benjamin, and Jon Hamm was great as the no-nonsense Admiral Beau 'Cyclone' Simpson. Ditto with Charles Parnell as Admiral Solomon 'Warlock' Bates and Ed Harris as Rear Admiral Chester 'Hammer' Cain.

Not to be overlooked are the other actors who were fantastic as Top Gun ground crew and fighter pilots: Bashir Salahuddin as Warrant Officer Bernie 'Hondo' Coleman, Monica Barbaro as Lt. Natasha 'Phoenix' Trace, Glen Powell as Lt. Jake 'Hangman' Seresin, Lewis Pullman as Lt. Robert 'Bob' Floyd, Jay Ellis as Lt. Reuben 'Payback' Fitch and Danny Ramirez as Lt. Mickey 'Fanboy' Garcia.

The one appearance that truly left a memorable mark on Top Gun: Maverick was that by Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. His scene with Tom Cruise was the most emotional moment in this movie...and considering the fact that Iceman's health reflects the illness that Kilmer is dealing with in real life (he unfortunately has throat cancer), the reunion between these two fighter jocks was made all the more poignant.

If there's one note I have about Top Gun: Maverick that could be construed as a critique, it's that the main mission in this movie was clearly inspired by the Death Star trench run in Star Wars: A New Hope. The only difference is, you have actors riding in real F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets as they fly at high speed through a narrow valley before miraculously taking out a small target with two laser-guided smart bombs instead of a pair of proton torpedoes. And that's what made this scene so exhilarating!

An advantage that Top Gun: Maverick has over its 1986 predecessor was obviously the use of modern-day visual effects. Since the Darkstar hypersonic plane featured at the beginning of Maverick doesn't exist (supposedly), a full-size replica, model and computer-generated version of the aircraft needed to be created for this film. With CGI still in its cinematic infancy back in 1986, the utilization of a miniature model would've stuck out like a sore thumb in the original Top Gun considering the use of actual fighter jets and authentic aerial footage in that film.

Modern-day VFX also made it possible for the Top Gun pilots to take on enemy aircraft that were actually of a foreign origin! Unlike American-made F-5 Tigers posing as MiGs in the first movie, it was Russian-made Su-57 Felons that Maverick and his wingmen went up against...even though the actual country that flew these 'fifth-generation fighters' was never identified in the film.

I can go on and on about how thrilling Top Gun: Maverick was—and how I intend to watch it again at the theater! Yes, Harold Faltermeyer's Top Gun Anthem made its triumphant return to the big screen...and so did Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone as well as Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire.

Adding to Top Gun: Maverick's adrenaline-packed music are Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga, and an intense film score by none other than Hans Zimmer. What a triumphant way to start the Memorial Day weekend and summer movie season, Top Gun: Maverick!

On This Day in 2002: Remembering ATTACK OF THE CLONES...

20 years ago today, one of my college classmates and I went to the AMC theater near our alma mater, Cal State Long Beach, to watch Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

While Episode II was my least favorite film in the prequel trilogy (yes, even moreso than The Phantom Menace), it still had its moments: Boba Fett and his father Jango making an appearance, seeing a group of Jedi run into battle on the big screen for the first time, watching the clonetroopers make an appearance on the planet Geonosis to begin the Clone Wars, Samuel L. Jackson kicking arse as Mace Windu with his purple-bladed lightsaber, and cheering on Yoda as he engaged in a fierce lightsaber duel with Count Dooku.

Remembering Attack of the Clones also makes me nostalgic for early 2002...when I was on the verge of being accepted into the film production program at Cal State Long Beach during that summer, and the Los Angeles Lakers won their third straight championship after defeating the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals a few weeks after Clones made its theatrical release. (I'll talk more about the Lakers and the 20-year anniversary of their 3-peat in my main Blog next month.)

I'll end this entry by saying that members of the boy band *NSync almost made cameos in Episode II! It's a good thing this plan fail through... The news of these cameos caused quite a negative stir among Star Wars fans back in early 2002. Carry on.

The Teaser Poster and Trailer for AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Are Here!

Almost 13 years after the first Avatar movie landed in theaters nationwide and broke box office records, the first of four sequels—Avatar: The Way of Water—will soon be upon us!

The teaser trailer for the December 16 flick premiered online today...after being shown exclusively in front of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the big screen last weekend.

Just like the 2009 film, director James Cameron intends to release The Way of Water in both the 2D and 3D formats. I'll definitely view this movie in 3rd dimension...but we'll see if this plan holds since the coronavirus pandemic is still raging around the world. And COVID-19 cases will no doubt surge come Christmas time.

Health issues aside, I'm excited to see what amazing visuals Cameron has in store for us with The Way of Water! The story in the first Avatar film wasn't exactly mind-blowing, but Pandora is absolutely one of the most beautiful worlds to ever be created for cinema. We'll see if that's still the case about seven months from now.

Judging from the new trailer, it will be.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are reprising their roles from the first Avatar movie, while joining them in The Way of Water are Michelle Yeoh, Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, Jemaine Clement and Edie Falco, respectively. Happy Monday!

Movie Review: DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS...

Yesterday, I went to Harkins Theatres to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) latest Phase 4 movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Just like its 2016 predecessor Doctor Strange, this sequel was cerebral and action-packed...and loaded with tons of mind-blowing visual effects. After playing the Master of the Mystic Arts for six MCU movies now (including this one), Benedict Cumberbatch has clearly nailed this role down—which obviously doesn't come as a surprise considering that he's a 2-time Academy Award nominee.

In regards to the story, The Multiverse of Madness continues the events that transpired in last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Disney+ streaming series, WandaVision. Doctor Strange has to deal with the repercussions of opening the multiverse in his attempt to help Peter Parker make the world forget that he's Spider-Man, while also dealing with the threat posed by Wanda Maximoff (superbly played by Elizabeth Olsen)...who'll destroy anything and anyone who gets in her way of reuniting with her two children from Westview.

It must've been intense for the people who watched WandaVision last year to see how her character turned out in The Multiverse of Madness. (I only viewed spoilers for this series online.) Wanda is the most powerful person to fight on the Avengers, and she became even more powerful—and extremely terrifying—as Scarlet Witch. Despite what transpired at the end of the movie, I'm darn sure that we'll see Wanda again in the future.

The rest of the cast was superb...with Rachel McAdams returning as Dr. Christine Palmer, Benedict Wong reprising his role as Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme, and Chiwetel Ejiofor playing Strange's arch-nemesis Baron Mordo once more. Xochitl Gomez was commendable in her role as the multiverse-crossing America Chavez, while the actors who made surprise cameos (I'll just list John Krasinski and Hayley Atwell here) were fantastic—pun intended—in their appearances as well.

Danny Elfman's music score for The Multiverse of Madness wasn't exactly as memorable as his work on director Sam Raimi's first two Spider-Man films and Tim Burton's two Batman movies, but that shouldn't come as a surprise since the MCU isn't really known for orchestral scores that you can play over and over on MP3.

It was refreshing to see Raimi helm another Marvel movie once more. Of course, it's not a true Raimi film without his good friend and Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell—who had a cameo in each installment of Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy—making a quick but hilarious appearance in The Multiverse of Madness as well!

I look forward to Doctor Strange's next adventure on the big screen. Happy Mother's Day!

On This Day in 2012: Remembering THE AVENGERS...

10 years ago today, I watched the Marvel mega-hit The Avengers at AMC theaters.

This particular film is meaningful to me...not only because it was an extremely exciting flick that definitely brought the Marvel Cinematic Universe to where it is in the comic book movie pantheon today, but also because viewing this film at the multiplex was the very first thing I did as I recovered from a debilitating illness that caused me to be home-ridden for nearly three months in early 2012.

(The only time I left my house was to see the doctor.)

While 2015's Age of Ulton was probably the worst film in The Avengers franchise, director Joss Whedon knocked it out of the park with the 2012 movie. I highly doubt that Whedon will work on another Marvel flick considering the controversy involving his behavior during the filming of the theatrical version of 2017's Justice League (Google it), but The Avengers will always be one of the movies that Whedon receives high marks for. Check out my review for the film.

Happy Wednesday!

On This Day in 2002: Remembering SPIDER-MAN...

20 years ago today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Spider-Man. While I was a bit annoyed at this film since it stole the thunder away from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (which would be released less than 2 weeks later)—the one movie that I was definitely looking forward to in 2002—I was nevertheless thrilled to view this comic book flick as two of my old high school friends and I were extras in it!

As shown in the images above and below, we got to run back and forth on a fake set of New York's Time Square (built on a vacant parking lot at the city of Downey in California) while Spider-Man and the Green Goblin duked it out for the first time. A stuntman was dressed as the Webslinger while Willem Dafoe himself donned the green suit and performed the fight himself!

This scene was filmed back in March of 2001.

It was awesome to see Tobey Maguire back on the big screen as Spidey in last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home, while I can't wait to see what director Sam Raimi brings to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with next weekend's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness! Happy Tuesday.