As with any industry, the film industry has been in a depression for the past three years due to COVID-19. Movies were postponed in production, and audiences stopped going to the theater. As many regulations due to the pandemic have been lifted, the film industry has also regained energy. “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to “Top Gun” produced in 1986, recorded 8 million viewers in 71 days of its release and has been a long-term box officesuccess after a long time. Behind its success were several reasons.
First and foremost, "Top Gun: Maverick" is kind enough. It explains the characters’ traits and narrative between them so that even those who have not seen the previous film, "Top Gun," can understand.
Maverick pushing the jet, which cost a billion, beyond the target speed and its limit shows his confidence and fearlessness, stemming from his jet driving skills without a single line. His repetitive line, "talk to me Goose," makes the audience aware of Goose's existence, and the later scene in which Rooster, Goose's son, sings "Great Balls of Fire," connects the past and the present. The movie introduces Iceman and other characters in the same way. It quickly puts the audience on track so that they can follow the plot without prior knowledge.
It contrasts with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series, which has been a representative of commercial entertainment films. They are no longer friendly. As its universe has expanded, directors now make films under the premise that the audience has sufficient knowledge of the previous series.
Accordingly, audiences must watch more than 30 previous movies and even a Disney Plus original drama series to fully understand the new series. Thus, people who missed either of them face difficulties enjoying the movie. Sometimes they are confused by the new characters, who were previously introduced in drama series, entering into movie series without enough explanation.
However, “Top Gun: Maverick” has made it possible for both old fans of the “Top Gun” series and new audiences who have never watched the previous film to enjoy it.
Furthermore, “Top Gun: Maverick” is realistic. Every scene where the characters fly the jet is filmed by the actor themselves on the jet. Tom Cruise, the lead and director of the film, designed a three-month flight training course for actors to ride the F-18 themselves, hoping to minimize the use of computer graphics in production. The actors spent more than four months in flight training and studying how to handle cameras to film themselves in a jet. Thus, it is natural. The audience easily immerses themselves in the movie.
While it is realistic enough to make the audience emerge into the movie, “Top Gun: Maverick” is fairly romantic. Sometimes, directors make the audience purposely uncomfortable as a cinematic device because a superhero does not exist in reality. Therefore, directors vividly show the process and composition of crime or harassment that has happened or is likely to happen in reality. They make the audience feel helpless through powerful and vicious villains that the main character can never beat.
However, the audience has already been exhausted from the past few years of Corona Blue. They have no energy left to ponder uncomfortable or unfriendly movies and learn a lesson from them. The audience wants to enjoy movies without a second thought at a theater they visit with their family or friends after a long time. “Top Gun: Maverick” perfectly fulfills the audience’s demand for a light entertainment movie.
Finally, "Top Gun: Maverick" is fun. With exciting background music, the flight and sailing scenes across the sky and the sea make the audience's heart pop. Probable artistic permission and well-reflected reality are balanced. Everyone happily lives after. Even the villain who annoyed the audience at first becomes nice byhelping Maverick at the right time. Maybe some people might say this movie is a cliche commercial flim, but perhaps that was what the audience was thirsty for.