Wednesday 1 June 2022 08:22 PM MEGHAN MCCAIN: 'Top Gun: Maverick' is yet another wake-up call to WOKE Hollywood trends now
My husband and I were just two people out of scores of Americans, who rushed to the movie theatres this past Memorial Day weekend to see 'Top Gun: Maverick.'
The sequel to the epic 1986 original, starring Tom Cruise and much of the initial cast, shattered box office records, making an estimated $156 million domestically over its four-day opening weekend.
It was also Cruise's first $100-million-plus opening over the course of his entire career.
Ben and I got a babysitter, pre-paid tickets, and bought the collectible metal popcorn bucket.
It was the first time since before Covid hit that I was looking forward to going out to see a movie– and I'm sure that thousands of other Americans felt the same way.
The question is: why? Why did so many people go out to see this film and not any other Hollywood offering?
The first part of the answer is obvious – 'Top Gun: Maverick' is the sequel to a universally beloved film that garnered incredible reviews and is considered by many to be as good, if not better, than the original.
The second part of the answer is more complicated.
Maybe the more apt question is why has it taken modern Hollywood so long to realize how to make a successful movie?
Top Gun is a straightforward action movie that celebrates all that is good about our country and our military.
Add to that the handsome leading men, a romantic drama with Cruise's love interest Jennifer Connelly (above left), and a new generation of actors and 'pilots,' like Miles Teller, and you have darn sequel.
Don't they realize that most Americans have pride in their country, and they don't want to be made to feel bad about that when spend their hard-earned money.
To a generation of Americans, Top Gun represents a celebration of the American military and America in general.
The original and the sequel open with the same iconic scripts -- describing how 'the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots… The Navy calls it Fighting Weapons School. The flyers call it: Top Gun.'
If that gives you chills – you're not alone.
Top Gun is a straightforward action movie that celebrates all that is good about our country and our military.
Add to that the handsome leading men, a romantic drama with Cruise's love interest Jennifer Connelly, and a new generation of actors and 'pilots,' like Miles Teller, and you have darn sequel.
There is also a really moving scene between Maverick and Iceman (Cruise and Val Kilmer) and I am woman enough to admit I cried through it.
But above all else -- the movie isn't overly political, it isn't depressing, it isn't focusing on the flaws of the United States of America and why we suck and why our flag
