{"id":257658,"date":"2025-05-26T07:14:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T07:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/may-26-2025-2020s-blockbusters-top-gun-maverick\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T07:14:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T07:14:47","slug":"may-26-2025-2020s-blockbusters-top-gun-maverick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=257658","title":{"rendered":"May 26, 2025: 2020s Blockbusters: Top Gun: Maverick"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[Moviegoing
\nhas unquestionably changed a great deal in recent years, but there is still a
\nplace for the summer blockbuster, and I believe there always will be. So for
\nthe unofficial kickoff of another summer season, I wanted to AmericanStudy a
\nhandful of recent such blockbusters!]<\/p>\n

On a problem
\nand a possibility with our cultural moment of ubiquitous sequels.<\/span><\/p>\n

A good bit
\nof the frame for today\u2019s post is parallel to what I wrote in <\/span>this prior
\npost<\/span><\/a> about The Force Awakens<\/i>
\n(2015), nostalgia, and multi-generational storytelling. So if you don\u2019t mind
\nchecking out that post and then coming back here, I\u2019d appreciate it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome
\nback! I haven\u2019t yet had a chance to see one of the <\/span>biggest
\nblockbuster film<\/span><\/a>s<\/span><\/span> of recent years, Top Gun: Maverick<\/i>, and I don\u2019t know that I will as I believe the
\noriginal Top Gun<\/i> (1986) is <\/span>one of the
\nworst blockbuster films<\/span><\/a> ever made. That\u2019s a personal opinion, of
\ncourse (although as that hyperlinked article reflects, I\u2019m not alone in holding
\nit), but I do think it illustrates a larger problem with the genuinely <\/span>ubiquitous
\npresence<\/span><\/a> of sequels, prequels, reboots, and other uses of existing
\nintellectual properties in our current pop culture zeitgeist. The more this
\nkind of cultural product dominates the landscape, the more of these
\nexisting\/prior works filmmakers and creators will have to return to\u2014and there
\nquite simply aren\u2019t that many 1980s films (or works from any decade\/moment)
\nthat have enough going on to make a sequel or reboot worthwhile or meaningful. I
\ndon\u2019t think it\u2019s my Star Wars<\/i> fandom
\nalone that distinguishes that film franchise, and its truly <\/span>imaginative
\nand culture-changing storytelling<\/span><\/a> across so many decades and so many
\ndifferent media (into all of which a sequel like The Force Awakens<\/i> slotted thoughtfully, as I argued in that prior
\npost), from a simplistic and vapid individual blockbuster film like Top Gun<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\n

So no, I
\ndon\u2019t think we needed another Top Gun<\/i>
\nfilm. But from what I can tell (and again, haven\u2019t seen it, so as always I
\nwelcome responses and challenges in comments!), Maverick<\/i> does do one really interesting thing that is a positive
\npossibility when it comes to these ubiquitous sequels (and that does link it to
\nForce Awakens<\/i> and the entire recent Star Wars<\/i> trilogy): it actively <\/span>thinks
\nabout time<\/span><\/a>. That is, despite star <\/span>Tom
\nCruise\u2019s seeming agelessness<\/span><\/a>, he is of course three and a half decades
\nolder than he was in the original film, and thus his character Pete \u201cMaverick\u201d
\nMitchell is likewise. Much like the smash hit <\/span>TV show Cobra Kai<\/i><\/span><\/a> (which I
\nalso haven\u2019t seen, outside of clips here and there, but when does that stop an
\nAmericanStudier?!), Maverick<\/i> is thus
\nable to not just continue the original story, but to reflect actively on the
\npassage of time, on themes of continuity and change, on the relationships
\n(limiting and enriching alike) between the past and the present. Maybe I\u2019m
\nbiased because those are the kinds of questions that define every part of my
\nwork and career, but I believe we all can benefit from asking them, of our pop
\nculture stories and our own identities and everything in between. If even silly
\nblockbusters can help us do so, then count me in!<\/span><\/p>\n

Next
\nblockbuster tomorrow,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What
\ndo you think? Summer blockbusters, recent or otherwise, you\u2019d analyze?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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