Using cinema as recruiting
propaganda for organizations and agencies is nothing new, but usually that is a
conscious and deliberate element in the movie’s production. But if a film
created primarily to entertain becomes a recruiting tool then that can be a
happy accident. “Top Gun,” the 1986 air combat action blockbuster which made
Tom Cruise a star, also spurred many hot-blooded moviegoers to flood US Navy
recruiting desks hoping to make it as aviators. The film became an instant modern
classic, with a sequel starting conceptualization nearly 30 years later. At
last, ahead of its premiere next year, a first trailer has been released.
USA Today chimes in that Paramount Pictures has finally given a
preview of what to expected with “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the
original Tom Cruise starrer that nobody asked for but everyone might be happy
to have anyway. Development of the new movie has taken so long already that
fans thought it would be quietly cancelled, despite having some plot points
already spoiled by the studio and actor himself. It is known Cruise’s character
“Maverick” remains a Navy flight instructor, and that he is teaching the son of
his late flying partner, but now the trailer expands upon that narrative to
provide setting.
The trailer sees Navy aviator instructor
Pete “Maverick” Mitchell flying an F/A-18 Hornet through some intense
maneuvers, while a voiceover narrates his circumstances. Note that Maverick
planned to quit combat piloting and return to the Top Gun school as instructor
at the end of the original film. Now we learn he has kept to that career path
for decades, as his superior (Ed Harris) notes that Maverick remains a
Captain-ranked instructor when his experience would make him a two-star
Admiral. But for Maverick, life already cannot get better than that.
Other sequences of the trailer
provide both a tease for present-time developments in the sequel film, plus
flashbacks from the time of the original and its aftermath. While current Maverick
flies a Hornet now, a sequence reveals a (now-retired) F-14 Tomcat like what he
and his departed radar officer flew. A short segment also sees Maverick at a
military funeral, likely for Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, whose son he would eventually
mentor. Familiar sights like Maverick racing a fighter plane on a motorcycle
and a volleyball game provide some surprise nostalgia. We have yet to see what
conflict will ensue during the movie, but it surely involves plenty of combat
flying.
Directed by “Tron: Legacy” auteur
Joseph Kosinski, “Top Gun: Maverick” also stars, along with Tom Cruise and
Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, John Hamm and Val Kilmer reprising as
Maverick’s rival Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. The film premieres June 26, 2020.
0 comments:
Post a Comment