Review of the IMAX film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (2022)
Updated
on June the 9th, 2022.
The story is good, dealing with all the stages of preparing the mission, the relationships between characters and then the missions execution. The sub-story about the relationship of Maverick and Rooster is well developed and gives the film good drama in addition to the action. Also, the dialogues are great, with some phrases coming back later like a boomerang.
The filming is good. The film is said to use images shot aboard planes in real flight, and really looks like it – the actor’s faces are shown experiencing strong accelerations. This provides a realistic feeling that makes the film worthwhile. Director Joseph Kosinski makes a good job in general, and gets brilliant dramatic scenes, though action sequences sometimes have discontinuities that leave the spectator disoriented.The images from cinematographer Claudio Miranda and editor Eddie Hamilton show an extremely narrow field depth. That means that the background is off-focus for the whole film, and sometimes the foreground too – there are even conversations where the focus keeps switching to the current speaker and leaving the other one unfocused, an exhibition of optics that looks unnatural. Because of digital edition allowing to make digital blurring, there is no sure way to tell whether this choice was Miranda’s or Hamilton’s. Aside from that, Miranda’s cinematography is good.
The narrow-field-depth images look good enough on a regular theatre. However, at a IMAX theatre, they can be described not as much as ‘LieMAX’ but certainly as ‘Ghost IMAX’ - with the background off-focus at all times, the only benefit from the high definition is to watch the pores in the actors’ faces, which is disappointing after having paid for a more expensive IMAX ticket. Why to film an IMAX film with the background permanently off-focus? Were the cameras really IMAX?
The music is great, including the classic Top Gun theme and a selection of 80s-style songs, that is certain to please the nostalgia of the followers of the original film.
As for the acting: Jon Hamm is OK, Bashir Salahuddin, Jennifer Connelly and Tom Cruise are good, Ed Harris has a highlighted short performance, but Miles Teller is the one that steals the show with his contained performance of Rooster.
All in all, an excellent film, but unworthy of watching it on IMAX. 4 out of 5.
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Title: |
Top Gun: Maverick |
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Genre: |
Action |
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Year: |
2022 |
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Nationality: |
United States |
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Colour: |
Colour |
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Director: |
Joseph Kosinski |
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Writer: |
Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie |
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Cast: |
Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Bashir Salahuddin, Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Glen Powell, Jack Schumacher, Manny Jacinto, Kara Wang, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly, Lyliana Wray, Ed Harris, Chelsea Harris, Darnell Kirkwood, Austin Bowerman, Stephanie Andrea Barron, Alec Williams, Rachel Winfree, Peter Mark Kendall, Ian Gary, Bob Stephenson, Landon Gordon, Margatet Strabala, Ryan Heilmann, Shantel Limbo, James Handy, Whylip Lee, Tristan Henry, Jason Robert Boles, Brian Ferguson, Chido Nwokocha, Chaz Ingram, Rachael Markarian, Shannon Kane, Norman Ralph Eliasen |
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Producer: |
Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Christopher McQuarrie |
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Executive producer: |
Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Tommy Harper, Chad Oman, Mike Stenson |
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Production designer: |
Jeremy Hindle |
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Cinematographer: |
Claudio Miranda |
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Film editor: |
Eddie Hamilton |
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Casting: |
Denise Chamian |
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Art Director: |
A. Todd Holland, David Meyer, Lauren E. Polizzi |
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Set Decorator: |
Jan Pascale |
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Costume Designer: |
Marlene Stewart |
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Music: |
Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, Hans Zimmer |
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Running time: |
130 minutes |
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Language: |
English |
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