The film will be released in July 2021.
For many, Tony Scott’s direction is the engine that takes ‘Top Gun’ to cult status.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ will finally hit theaters next year, but the long-awaited sequel, long-awaited for those nostalgic for the eighties, does not have the ingredient that the original had. The original ‘Top Gun’ released in 1986 was a huge success that led to an increase in the number of young people recruiting into the United States Army and the Navy aviation program. The story about that young pilot was that kind of rhythmic, theatrical plot that resonated deeply with audiences in the mid-1980s. As a result, many fans are eagerly awaiting this sequel to see how the protagonist has fared over the years.
However, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is unlikely to achieve the success of the original. And it will not be because of the effort that Tom Cruise or its director, Joseph Kosinski, has put into it . Not for the lack of stars (in addition to the return of Val Kilmer, there will also be Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, or Miles Teller ). What could it be?
As Screen Rant points out, the real reason the new movie doesn’t get the original magic is that Tony Scott isn’t behind the camera. The direction of the filmmaker, who died in 2012, is the engine that takes ‘Top Gun’ to the status of a cult work according to the publication.
Although Kosinski (‘Oblivion’) has proven to be a competent director, Scott brought a unique style and singular vision to 1986. Scott’s narrative style and visual aesthetic have proven so popular that they are a large part of why ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ doesn’t match the success of the original movie.
On the one hand, there’s photography – the sequel will struggle to achieve a visual palette as novel as the original ‘Top Gun’, mainly because the film established the standard style expected of the genre in subsequent decades. An example is the slow-motion opening sequence of ‘Top Gun’, with the burnt oranges and deep blues in contrast, which provided the visual blueprint in the action cinema of later decades. A style much copied by action creators, such as Jan DeBont or Michael Bay.
The ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ trailers alone prove that the film will follow in the footsteps of the original’s cinematography, meaning the 2021 sequel pays homage to its predecessor but will have a hard time emerging from the shadows. from ‘Top Gun’ and establish your own revolutionary visual style.
The publication also points out the dramatic part: the film combined action and drama plot. Action movies are primarily a visual medium, and very few are remembered for leaving a great emotional impact. Not so with Scott’s production though, with the original ‘Top Gun’ leaning on the Maverick tragedy as much as its legend. It’s a rare thing for a director to create real emotional risks in an action movie, but Scott managed it thanks to a gift for pacing that made the drama fully involved in the plot. The filmmaker included Goose’s death with some real weight,
In addition, there is the issue of montage: the sequel will have to slow it down considerably to keep up with the original. Action movies are now routinely criticized for being over-edited and excessively fast-paced. However, action directors find themselves in something of a trap when they receive this criticism since the increased speed of editing within the genre means that any film that does not participate in it can be seen slow to contemporary audiences. It’s a difficult dilemma for directors, who are caught between being criticized for the overly frenzied style or being called slow for taking a more measured approach.
The second parts always have it difficult to reach the height of their predecessors. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is eagerly awaited and Kosinski’s work will be revised to the millimeter. But to compare you will have to see the result.
The film will arrive, if there are no more date changes, on July 2, 2021, 35 years after the first.
