"Top Gun: Maverick”: Just What America Needs
Let’s face it, Americans are tired.
Tired of Covid.
Tired of soaring gas prices.
Tired of illegals pouring in across our Southern border.
Tired of the fentanyl that’s killing our kids.
Tired of politicians, celebrities and athletes bashing our country.
Tired of polls and riots and lawlessness.
Most of all, tired of wokeness.
And that is why America needs “Top Gun: Maverick.” For the first time in years, theaters are packed with moviegoers who want a feel-good movie with thrills and a happy ending.
“Top Gun: Maverick” delivers.
Hollywood has been struggling for the past two years to get audiences back in seats, but frightened folks remained at home sitting on their sofas watching Netflix instead.
It didn’t help that the films being served by the studios were thin gruel. I mean, did anyone really want to buy a $12 ticket and a $10 bucket of popcorn to see “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” the third-highest grossing movie of 2021?
Just when we needed it most, Tom Cruise came through, delivering an age-defying - he turns 60 in a couple of weeks! - high-octane performance as a legendary Capt. Pete “Maverick” “Mitchell, Top Gun Navy pilot turned test pilot turned flight instructor who’s lost none of his rule-breaking, maverick spirit.
The first “Top Gun” was made in 1986 when Reagan was president, the economy was on a rebound, inflation was under control and the Soviet Union was on the verge of breaking up. It was a time of hope.
The sequel comes during what feels like a remake of the Carter years. Not only is the U.S. experiencing 40-year-high inflation but we’re begging other countries to send us oil and baby formula while our C-student president spends his weekends on the beach. It’s a time of hopelessness.
There is a cure for this malaise. I found it Friday night at the Lynnhaven AMC theaters.
Tom Cruise is back, surrounded by a superb cast and plenty of heart-stopping aerial action.
For 131 minutes the audience can escape the reality of Bare-Shelves-Biden’s America and be transported to a place drenched in courage, love of the military and a can-do spirit. A place where the best of the best go into battle and are the undisputed good guys on a death-defying mission.
There’s a sweet love story, too, of course, but this time it isn’t central to the tale. The flying is. And former Navy pilots I’ve spoken to were uniformly enthralled with the aviation.
Americans responded to the film’s release by flocking to theaters and setting box office records two weeks in a row. Interestingly, the film has also shattered box office records abroad. The movie is killing it in France, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the UAE.
Apparently “Top Gun: Maverick” isn’t just what America needs right now. It’s what the world needs.