Miles Teller

Review of “Top Gun: Maverick”

I only recently watched “Top Gun” for the podcast my wife and I do, Comedy Tragedy Marriage (Season 2, Episode 39). Neither of us liked it. It was too filled with testosterone-soaked horn dogs looking to impresses each other and get laid. None of the characters rang true and the story was lackluster. Tom Cruise and his love interest, played by Kelly McGillis, had zero chemistry and the love scene was uncomfortable to watch as Cruise looked like he was trying to swallow McGillis whole when he kissed her. Even the scenes of fighter jets screaming low over the terrain was dull. Camera limitations being what they were in 1986 prevented the all over coverage today’s smaller devices can provide. I was totally uninterested when a sequel was announced, expecting more of the same swagger and male bravado that filled the first. Of course, times have changed, and the cast isn’t just a bunch of white guys with abs and flattop haircuts. Various ethnicities are represented and there are a couple of women amongst the pilots. There is still plenty of peacocking and showing off between the candidates for a mission they may not come back from, but there is a maturity and seriousness in Cruise that was missing in the first film. He’s not the same Maverick we met 36 years ago. While he’s still a cocky and rule-breaking maverick (pardon the expression), he’s also looking mortality in the face, realizing he must teach these pilots how to push their jets and themselves beyond what they’ve ever done as this will be his last chance to prove all his recklessness is the only way to get the impossible done. “Top Gun: Maverick” is a far superior film to its predecessor.

Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is a test pilot for the Navy. When he destroys a multi-billion-dollar aircraft while pushing it beyond its limits, Maverick expects this to be his last ride, but he’s surprised to receive orders from Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain (Ed Harris) to report to Top Gun school as a new instructor. Arriving at his new posting, Maverick meets Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (Jon Hamm) who informs him he didn’t want Maverick for the position, but Maverick’s old rival and friend Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (Val Kilmer) insisted. Maverick will prepare a dozen Top Gun school graduates for a suicide mission to destroy a uranium enrichment facility behind enemy lines before it becomes operational. The mission requires high-speed, low-altitude flying, high-G maneuvers and precision bombing of a small target. Out of the dozen pilots, only six will be selected with the rest being on stand-by. On top of the natural competitiveness between the pilots, there’s a personal grudge held by Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s late RIO and best friend Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards, seen in photos and footage from the first film). Maverick pulled Rooster’s application to the Naval Academy at the request of his late mother Carole (Meg Ryan, seen in photos and footage from the first film), delaying his career by four years. Maverick must navigate the egos of his young pilots, like Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin (Glen Powell) and Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix” Trace (Monica Barbaro), and Rooster’s animosity, while teaching them the skills to keep them alive. Maverick must also deal with the wreckage of a past relationship with Hard Deck bar owner Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly).

I wasn’t expecting much from “Top Gun: Maverick” and I’m pleasantly surprised to be completely wrong. From the first scene of Maverick piloting an experimental jet past its limits to the conclusion, this movie is the kind of thrill ride that’s currently only delivered by comic book movies. However, much of the spectacle of the film is created using real fighter jets with the actors in the cockpits. When the film is released on blu ray, the bonus features will likely last for days as the movie is reported to have shot over 800 hours of footage. The aerial scenes of training dogfights and battles with the story’s enemy create an excitement and tension that was missing from the original film. I could feel myself clenching as the pilots tried to outmaneuver their instructor and the enemy. I would imagine seeing the film in IMAX or in motion-controlled seating might lead to some air/motion sickness for some in the audience. The film is something of a technical marvel.

It also treats fans of the original film to some cameos, both from archival footage and new scenes. The most touching is with Val Kilmer. Kilmer, who in real life battled throat cancer and whose voice is greatly diminished, returns as Iceman, a Vice-Admiral and a friend and mentor of Maverick’s. Kilmer’s cancer battle is worked into his character and he and Cruise have a heartfelt reunion. This scene works not only because of the nostalgia some feel for the characters, but also the real-life bravery of Kilmer appearing in a film and showcasing his raspy voice as a part of his on-going story. I enjoyed this scene, even feeling a bit of emotion well up, which is capped off with a joke about their old rivalry. It makes a lovely conclusion to their former selves.

Where the film comes up a bit short is the love story between Maverick and his old flame Penny. I don’t know what it is about Cruise and his leading ladies, but I can never see what would attract a woman to his characters. Jennifer Connelly’s Penny is appropriately playful, keeping Maverick at arm’s length as she has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Maverick isn’t pushy, like in the first film with Kelly McGillis’s Charlie, and his charm eventually wears her down. I still don’t see what her character sees in Maverick as he’s broken her heart before, but at least their relationship isn’t as cringe-inducing as the first film.

The other supporting characters fill out roles like the first film, with Hangman taking on the Iceman role. Rooster has a character arc reminiscent of Maverick’s from the original. The rest of the cast are placeholders, filling whatever the script calls for at any given time. Most of the large cast is wasted in minimal roles.

“Top Gun: Maverick” is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language. The dogfight scenes are very tense, as mentioned above. There is some shirtless (except for a couple of characters) football on the beach, replacing the shirtless volleyball of the first film. There is one physical altercation between a couple of characters, but it is stopped before any punches are thrown. Foul language is mild and scattered.

I really didn’t think I’d enjoy “Top Gun: Maverick.” The years have softened Maverick, making him more serious, but still willing to break whatever rules he feels stand in the way of the mission. He knows this is probably his last chance to make a difference and he makes sure to pass his knowledge and bravado on to the next generation. While the love story doesn’t feel organic and much of the cast is relegated to seat-fillers, “Top Gun: Maverick” works on almost every level as an exciting action movie and “rah-rah, blow up the bad guys” romp. See it on the big screen…the bigger the better.

“Top Gun: Maverick” gets four stars out of five.

Follow, rate, review and download the podcast Comedy Tragedy Marriage. Each week my wife and I take turns picking a movie to watch, watch it together, then discuss why we love it, like it or loath it. Find it wherever you get podcasts.

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan.

Review of “War Dogs”

David Packouz (Miles Teller) is struggling trying to find a purpose in life. He’s a licensed massage therapist and is also trying to sell Egyptian cotton sheets to nursing homes in Miami. Neither is going very well. At a funeral he runs into childhood friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) who has recently moved back to Miami after living and working in California. Efraim is selling guns, ammunition and other supplies to the U.S. military, using a government website to look for small contracts on which the larger weapons manufacturers don’t bother to bid. Efraim invites David to join him in his new endeavor called AEY, Inc. after David is told by his girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas) she’s pregnant. Quickly, Efraim and David are making deals and selling supplies to the U.S. military. They are also making huge amounts of money. A big contract providing Beretta handguns to the Iraqi police force runs into a snag when David and Efraim discover Italian law prevents the guns be shipped directly to Iraq. Efraim arranges for them to be shipped to Jordan then transported to Iraq but that deal falls through. Desperate to fulfill their contract, Efraim and David go to Jordan and hire a driver named Marlboro (Shaun Toub) to get the weapons to Baghdad and discover (when they are attacked) that they are travelling through the infamous Triangle of Death. Efraim thrives on the danger and borderline illegality of the job while David would prefer to stay out of the hot zone. The possibility of a huge military contract to resupply the Afghan military puts David and Efraim in touch with legendary arms dealer Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper) who will help them put the deal together with Cold War weapons and ammo from Albania in exchange for a cut of the profits. Girard can’t deal directly with the U.S. Government since he is on a terrorist watch list. The possibility of a huge payday lead Efraim and David to make compromises and take short cuts that could land them in prison.

The thing that makes “War Dogs” so scary is it is based on a true story. Two twenty-something bros managed to get involved in arms dealing at the perfect time. The Bush administration was fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and needed to equip millions of U.S. soldiers then needed to re-equip Iraqi and Afghan forces for the post war. The possibility of making enormous amounts of money led not just Packouz and Diveroli but many others to take short cuts in procuring weapons and supplies. “War Dogs” in some ways is like “The Big Short” in that it’s a cautionary tale that will likely be ignored the next time a major conflict breaks out involving the United States. Money has a way of making people forget past mistakes.

Jonah Hill has an amazing and somewhat scary ability to play utterly corrupt individuals with enormous style and believability. His “Wolf of Wall Street” character, while slightly less dangerous, is equally morally bankrupt to Efraim Diveroli. Hill can show us both sides of Diveroli as both the caring friend and the uncaring business partner. But as the film progresses, it becomes clear Diveroli is running a con on everyone he encounters as he tries to take people for whatever he can get out of them. His friend David is no exception. The beauty of Hill’s performance is we hope Diveroli is a decent guy when it comes ot Packouz and, for a while, we believe he is. It is only later in the film it becomes apparent Diveroli only has room in his heart for himself. Hill does an amazing job with the character.

Miles Teller is also great as David Packouz. While his character is less complex than Hill’s, Teller is able to play Packouz as a likeable guy that is looking to become something greater than what he feels he is. He also has a girlfriend and daughter to provide for and that often makes him look the other way as their business dealings get progressively shadier. Teller is the emotional anchor of the film. He is the everyman that represents the audience and gives us a way into this world. Teller’s scarred face, from a near fatal auto accident in 2007, makes us almost immediately feel empathy for his character. This is a face that has seen some hard times and taken on difficulties. While the scars have nothing to do with the character, it adds a layer of sympathy and concern and the audience cares what happens to David.

The underused supporting cast, including the always great Kevin Pollack, fills in the holes of the story quite nicely. Ana de Armas, used primarily as both David’s conscience and eye candy, is locked into a traditionally female role. The loving girlfriend and caring mother to a new baby girl, de Armas gets the dirty job of nagging her boyfriend to not lie about what he’s really doing. I suppose it’s a necessary role to keep the character rooted in the real world. Bradley Cooper is understated as international arms dealer Henry Girard. Girard is quietly dangerous and makes that clear in a scene late in the film. Cooper, who is also a producer on the film, makes the most of his brief appearances and gives the movie a villain other than Diveroli. Kevin Pollack plays a minor supporting character but is always a joy to watch. As he learns exactly the kind of business partner Diveroli is late in the film, the subtle changes in his face make a very tense scene somewhat comical.

The story in “War Dogs” is a bit dense with layer upon layer of deception and misdirection. Quite frankly, the minutiae of their business dealings get a bit tedious at times. Export licenses, government websites and trade embargoes often fill their conversations and it slows down the story quite a bit. When Efraim and David are getting their hands dirty transporting guns across Iraq or visiting a warehouse filled with Cold War weapons and munitions in Albania, the movie feels much more alive and dangerous.

“War Dogs” is rated R for language throughout, drug use and some sexual references. Drug use is very common throughout the film. Both Diveroli and Packouz are shown smoking weed and snorting powder on numerous occasions. Sexual references are scattered but explicit. Foul language is common throughout the film.

“War Dogs” is an example of how huge amounts of money corrupts everything it touches from friends to governments. It turns people into greedy, heartless monsters and governments into…greedy, heartless monsters. While many of the events of “War Dogs” were either exaggerated or invented from whole cloth, it only takes looking at the news or knowing more than one other person to show the basic idea of the film is played out every day in real life all around us. Money is a driving factor for many of our lives as we need it to procure food, shelter, transportation and, to a degree, relationships. Most of us can keep our lives in perspective with the kind of incomes average people make; however, when millions of dollars are within the grasp of someone who places personal wealth above all else, judgement and decency can be considered faults that cannot be afforded. As the old saying goes, the love of money is the root of all evil.

“War Dogs” gets four guitars out of five.

This week your entertainment options consist of dark horror, biographical athleticism and an action reboot. I’ll see at least one of the following:

Don’t Breathe—

Hands of Stone—

Mechanic: Resurrection—

Follow me on Twitter @moviemanstan and send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.

Review of “Fantastic Four”

A troubled past doesn’t guarantee failure. Films like “Titanic,” “Jaws” and perhaps most famously “Apocalypse Now” are just a few films that were created in turbulent environments. Whether the trouble was a conflict between the cast and the director, the director and the studio, between cast members or some other configuration, good work still came from what could have potentially been a disaster; however, some productions, like “Alien 3,” “Cop Out” and “Waterworld” are doomed to failure when egos and power struggles get in the way of making an enjoyable bit of entertainment. The latter appears to be what happened to Fox Studios’ “Fantastic Four” reboot.

As a child, Reed Richards (played as an adult by Miles Teller) dreamed of building a matter transporter…and he actually succeeded thanks to parts provided by his friend Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) from his family’s junk and salvage yard. Reed considers Ben his best friend and good luck charm. Reed is discovered at a high school science fair by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his adopted daughter Sue (Kate Mara) and invited to attend is institute of gifted young people in the Baxter Tower in New York City. Ben stays home to work in the family business. Dr. Storm also has a son named Johnny (Michael B. Jordan) who is a brilliant mechanic that prefers to spend his time tinkering with his car and running in illegal street races than in a lab. A crash that totals his car forces him to work for his father in the lab. Dr. Storm is working on an interdimensional transporter and believes Reed can push his research over the edge. The project was started by Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), a brilliant but troubled scientist who has some less than pleasant history with Dr. Storm and they no longer work together. Dr. Storm gets his funding from a shadowy board of directors with ties to the government led by Harvey Elder (Tim Blake Nelson). With Reed on board and Victor back in the fold largely because he loves Sue, the interdimensional transporter is perfected. Elder wants to turn the project over the NASA and the government but Dr. Storm wants to keep the project in house and under his control. After a few rounds of drinks, Reed, Victor and Johnny decide to take the transporter for a test spin on their own and Reed calls Ben because he was there for the earliest experiments in the garage and wants his good luck charm to come along. Ben agrees and they are soon teleported to another dimension. It’s a barren world with storm clouds overhead and pools of glowing green liquid. Victor puts his hand in the fluid and can feel the energy coursing through it; but it also causes a chain reaction that is causing the ground beneath their feet to come apart. Victor is engulfed in green flames and falls down a cliff. The others run to the transporter pod to go home where Sue is trying to initiate the return sequence. Fire engulfs Johnny, Ben is encased in rock, Reed is bathed in unknown energy and Sue is hit with a blast from the other dimension when the pod reappears. Each is endowed with unique powers and abilities.

While far from being a great movie “Fantastic Four” isn’t as bad as the Rotten Tomatoes score of 9% might imply. The introduction to the group, their transformation and dealing with their powers is actually pretty good. You get a good idea of the personality of each main player and the conflict between Victor and Reed gets an understandable foundation. It is the part of the story where the four put their powers to use where the train goes off the rails.

The whole structure of the film feels flimsy and unfinished. The set up to what should be the super showdown is incredibly long when compared to the finale which feels like it plays out in about 10 minutes, if that. What appears to have been planned as a two hour plus film is over in an hour-40. While many comic book movies are too long, “Fantastic Four” isn’t long enough as we are shown huge amounts of history and preparation leading to an ending that is anti-climactic. Granted, I think everyone knows the good guys are always going to win in the end of a superhero movie but it shouldn’t feel like the kind of role-playing game I used to participate in as a child with my friends when, after one of us had been shot with the death ray or whatever the evil scheme entailed, we popped right up, saved the damsel in distress and put the villain in his place.

“Fantastic Four” director Josh Trank made an impressive debut with his first studio film “Chronicle.” The story of three high school kids who gain powers from a mysterious alien artifact was a low-budget, found-footage gem. The story was great, the effects were good and the whole thing worked together for a wonderfully enjoyable time at the movies. That film got him the “Fantastic Four” gig but something happened that turned what should have been a dream into a nightmare. Trank can be heard on the Kevin Smith podcast “Fatman on Batman” giving a thorough history of his early life, how he became a filmmaker and the process of making “Fantastic Four.” It takes, coincidentally, four episodes to tell the whole story. Nowhere in those four episodes, about six hours of content, does Trank complain about the making of “Fantastic Four” or Fox executives; however, on Thursday, August 6, Trank tweeted the following: “A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would’ve received great reviews. You’ll probably never see it. That’s reality though.” Trank quickly deleted the tweet but it was of course screen captured. While vague, this tweet seems to be saying the film was interfered with by Fox executives and turned into something other than his original vision. There is of course another side to the story that suggests Trank may have been in over his head and/or was difficult to work with. The truth lies somewhere in the middle with enough blame to go around for both sides. The product of this middle ground is a movie with an odd structure, average at best special effects, a villain that doesn’t make much sense, has odd motivations for his evil plan and a story that starts out fine then turns into a mess at the conclusion.

“Fantastic Four” is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and language. We see a couple of characters engulfed in flames. One character causes people’s heads to kind of explode. We see a splash of blood on the wall behind them. There is a fight where giant boulders are used as weapons. Foul language is scattered and mild.

Josh Trank’s tweet, the troubled production and the poor box office showing of “Fantastic Four” may put the director in movie jail for a period of time. Movie jail is when filmmakers can’t get a job after what is perceived to be a failure on their part. Trank will likely survive just fine in the wilderness of independent filmmaking where he can be fully in charge of the production with little to no interference. But that leaves us to wonder just what kind of “Fantastic Four” the director had in mind. Will we ever see it? Will there ever be an entertaining version of Marvel’s first super team that isn’t a cartoon? Are Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing just too tough a nut to crack? Should Fox make a deal with Marvel like Sony did with Spider-Man and share the movie rights? Speculating about all this is far more entertaining than watching the movie, as this “Fantastic Four” may actually be worse than the dayglow colored version we got a decade ago.

“Fantastic Four” gets one star out of five.

The music that spoke to one generation and frightened another and a TV to film crossover open in theatres this week. I’ll see and review at least one of these.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.—

Straight Outta Compton—

Follow me on Twitter (I try not to be too controversial) @moviemanstan. Send emails to stanthemovieman@comcast.net.