Review: ‘Jim Henson Idea Man,’ starring Frank Oz, Lisa Henson, Heather Henson, Cheryl Henson and Brian Henson

July 21, 2024

by Carla Hay

A 1950s archival photo of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog in “Jim Henson Idea Man” (Photo courtesy of Disney+)

“Jim Henson Idea Man”

Directed by Ron Howard

Culture Representation: The documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man” features a predominantly white group of people (with one Latina) discussing the life and career of puppeteer/filmmaker Jim Henson, who is best known for creating several Muppets characters.

Culture Clash: Henson, who was known as a generous, creative and fun-loving person, was also a workaholic who often preferred being at work instead of being with his family. 

Culture Audience: “Jim Henson Idea Man” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Henson, the Muppets and biographical documentaries about pioneering entertainers.

A 1970s archival photo of Jim Henson (front row, center) and members of “The Muppet Show” team, including Jane Henson (front row, far right) and Frank Oz (second row, far right) in “Jim Henson Idea Man” (Photo courtesy of Disney+)

“Jim Henson Idea Man” could’ve easily been just a nostalgia trip of Jim Henson’s successes. However, this candid documentary gives an illuminating look at the ups and downs of his life without glossing over how his flaws affected his personal relationships. “Jim Henson Idea Man” also has an impressive collection of previously unreleased archival footage that gives further insight into his creativity. In 1990, Henson died of toxic shock syndrome caused by Group A streptococcal infection. He was 53.

Directed by Ron Howard, “Jim Henson Idea Man” had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The documentary has since been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Although other documentaries (such as the 2021 “Sesame Street” documentary “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street”) have shown how the Emmy-winning Henson has been the most influential and commercially successful puppeteer in history, those other documentaries only told part of his story. “Jim Henson Idea Man” is the first truly comprehensive documentary on Henson and has the added benefit of including many of his personal home videos and other memorabilia, provided by his family member.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” wisely does not overstuff the movie with too many people commenting on Henson. All of the people interviewed for the documentary are family members or those who worked with closely with Henson. The cultural impact of Henson’s work on “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show” is already common knowledge, so this documentary didn’t need to have plethora of celebrities and entertainment industry experts to talk about how Henson’s work was groundbreaking and profoundly influential to many people.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” gives a brief summary of Henson’s childhood and teenage years, which were relatively happy and stable, by all accounts. He was born as James Maury Henson in 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. He was raised in Mississippi and Maryland. Jim didn’t play with puppets in his pre-teen childhood. Television was Jim’s biggest childhood influence on wanting to become an entertainer.

His parents Paul (an agronomist) and Betty were Christian Scientists, although Jim is described in the documentary as not belonging to any particular religion in his adulthood. It’s mentioned that Jim was more spiritual than religious. He believed in some Buddhist teachings, such as transcendental meditation and the concept that life and death are on the same continuum.

Jim’s only sibling was his older brother Paul Henson Jr. (born in 1932), who is described as Jim’s best friend until Paul’s tragic death in a car accident in 1956, at the age of 24. Paul Jr.’s death had a profound effect on Jim, says Jim’s son Brian: “It was a huge shock to my family. It absolutely shattered my dad’s world.”

One of the recurring themes in Jim Henson’s life was that he never felt like he had enough tme to do all the things he wanted to do in life. The documentary includes rare footage of Jim’s 1965 short film “Time Piece,” which features Jim in multiple roles (such as a hospital patient and as a doctor) that has several references to running out of time before dying. Brian says in the documentary about his father Jim’s preoccupation with work had a lot to do with Jim feeling that he needed to make a lot of his dreams come true to fulfill a larger purpose. “The idea that time could run out, I’m sure came with the death of his brother,” Bran comments.

From an early age, Jim wanted to become a filmmaker. He particularly loved making weird experimental films. But he first became famous as a puppeteer. Jim started doing puppet shows while he was in high school. By the time he was in college, Henson was doing puppet shows for local TV stations in the Washington, D.C., area, such as “Sam and Friends” on WRC-TV.

It was during this time in 1955 that Jim created his most famous Muppet character: Kermit the Frog, a green creature with a gentle, fun-loving personality. Kermit was considered an alter ego of Jim’s, although he described Kermit as much more extroverted and adventurous than Jim was in real life.

While he was a student at the University of Maryland in College Park, Henson began a puppeteer collaboration with classmate Jane Nebel. They got married in 1959 and had five children: Lisa, Cheryl, Heather, John and Brian. All of the children ended up working with their father as puppeteers and/or as producers. All of the children except John are interviewed in this documentary.

Jane Nebel Henson (who died in 2013) co-founded Muppets Inc. (later renamed the Jim Henson Company) with Jim. At first, she had 40% ownership of the company, while Jim had 60% ownership. Jane (who is described by her children as being very independent and free thinker) eventually scaled back her ownership and involvement in the company as she spent more time raising the couple’s children.

After Jane reduced her involvement in the company work, Henson’s main creative partners then became Frank Oz, who worked with Jim since Oz was 17; writer Jerry Juhl, who died at age 67 in 2005; and puppet designer Don Sahlin, who died of a heart atatck at age 49 in 1978. Also instrumental to Henson’s TV success was “Sesame Street” director Jon Stone, who died at age 65 in 1997. Jim did not create all of the Muppet characters, but created or co-created several of the most iconic, including Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Ernie, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

Oz, who is interviewed in “Jim Henson Idea Man,” says he and Jim had opposite personalities (Jim was playful, Oz describes himself as “uptight”), which actually was a benefit to how they worked together when creatng personalities for their puppets. This “opposites attract” dynamic could be seen in the relationships between two of the most famous duos in Muppet history: roommates Ernie (voiced by Jim Henson) and Bert (voiced by Oz)—Ernie is optimist; Bert is pessimistic—and bickering couple Kermit the Frog (voiced by Jim Henson) and Miss Piggy (voiced by Oz), who is prissy and vain.

In “Jim Henson Idea Man,” Oz says: “I met Jim when I was about 17. It took about 10 years to where we could sense each other’s rhythms. He was a very rare creature. He was so internal and quiet, his inner life must have been sparkling. He had so many ideas and so many things he wanted to do. And so, the idea of time, I think, was very much on Jim’s mind, always.”

Oz says his relationship with Jim evolved from seeing Jim as a father figure/mentor to being more fraternal. “We really were like brothers,” Oz comments. And although Jim was technically Oz’s boss when they worked together, Oz says he felt he had an equal creative partnership with Jim. Oz made his feature-film directorial debut as a co-director with Jim on 1982’s “The Dark Crystal,” a fantasy film with life-sized puppets. Oz says he was surprised and flattered that Jim asked Oz to co-direct the movie with him.

According the Henson kids who are interviewed in the documentary, the marriage of Jim and Jane ran into major problems because the spouses often disagreed on Jim’s career priorities and goals. When Jim was offered a job on “Sesame Street” in 1969 (the year the TV series launched), he was reluctant to take it to because he didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a children’s entertainer. By contrast, Jane encouraged Jim to join “Sesame Street” and thought he should stay focused on children’s entertainment.

As Jim began to become rich and famous, he got more wrapped up in his work and wouldn’t be at home with his family for weeks or months at a time. His children say that even when Jim would go on family vacations, he would still be working.

Jim’s workaholic ways eventually caused Jim and Jane to lead separate lives. They officially separated in 1986 but never divorced because Jane didn’t believe in divorce. “Jim Henson Idea Man” includes clips of some archival interviews that Jane did where she talks about the her life with Jim. Brian says that during the separation, Jim dated women but never wanted these other relationships to get too serious.

Even though Jane stepped away from much of the couple’s day-to-day work at the family business, the business was very much on her mind. Brian says in the documentary that during family meals when the kids were underage, Jim would ask the kids about how they were doing in school, while Jane would mainly want to talk about business. The couple’s children say that Jane was a loving parent but didn’t want to be a traditional mother, whereas Jim expected her to conform to traditional gender roles when it came to parenting.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” also shows that even with the success of “Sesame Street,” Jim was rejected by all the U.S. TV networks at the time to launch “The Muppet Show,” which eventually found a home on the British TV network ATV. Jim created “The Muppet Show” so he could have more creative control than he had on “Sesame Street,” a show he didn’t create. It was the first major nationally televised variety series where the characters were all puppets, with human celebrities as guest stars.

Only after “The Muppet Show” was a smash hit in the United Kingdom that U.S. networks became interested, but the show was sold into U.S. syndication instead of being on one specific U.S. TV network. “The Muppet Show” inevitably spawned feature films that were hits. In 1980, Jim ended “The Muppet Show” after five years because he wanted to move on to other projects.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” also includes discussions of Jim’s post-“Muppet Show” work, most notably his directing of the fantasy feature films “The Dark Crystal” and 1986’s “Labyrinth,” which als featured life-sized puppets. “The Dark Crystal” ran into all sorts of problems with script rewrites demanded by the movie studio. “Labyrinth” was a flop with audiences and critics when it was released in theaters, although the movie has since become a cult classic. Jim took the so-called failure of “Labyrinth” very hard because he considered it one of his most creatively fulfilling projects. Labyrinth” co-star Jennifer Connelly, says of making the film: “It was like being in a dream world.”

One dream that Jim had that never came to fruition when he was alive was to do a Broadway puppet show. “Jim Henson Idea Man” has rare footage of a workshop for one of his Broadway show ideas. The documentary breezes through mentions of two of his last puppet TV series—”Fraggle Rock” (1983 to 1987) and “The StoryTeller” (1987 to 1989)—but doesn’t mention 1989’s “The Jim Henson Hour,” which was canceled before airing all of its first-season episodes. The documenaty goes into some details over his decision to buy the rights to “The Muppet Show” and related intellectual property, only to sell the Jim Henson Company to Disney in 1989.

Other people interviewed in the documentary include puppeteers Dave Goelz, Fran Brill and Bonnie Erickson; Alex Rockwell, who was Jim’s creative assistant from 1988 to 1990; Michael Frith, former executive vice-president and creative director of the Jim Henson Company; and former “Muppet Show” guest Rita Moreno, who tells a behind-the-scenes story about they had to do several takes when she was filming her performance of Peggy Lee’s “Fever” (wth the Muppet “wild drummer” character Animal) because she had a hard time trying not to laugh.

Muppets are of different races and species and came along at a time when racial integration was still very controversial in the United States. Moreno says of this Muppet diversity: “Jim never really thought of color. Jim never thought of nationality. Jim simply thought of characters.” Kermit’s signature song “It’s Not Easy Being Green” is mentioned as a song that resonated with many people who felt “invisible” because of looking different from everyone else, but the song’s real impact is because it has a message of self-acceptance, even when experiencing prejudice.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” has excellent editing when telling the story of this highly creative pioneer. Whether or not someone grew up watching “Sesame Street” or “The Muppet Show,” these shows broke cultural barriers while still being highly entertaining. “Jim Henson Idea Man” is undoubtedly a tribute to Jim Henson but it’s also an inspirational film for anyone who has ideas that people say won’t work when those ideas might actually change the world in some way.

Disney+ released “Jim Henson Idea Man” in select U.S. cinemas on May 24, 2024. The movie premiered on Disney+ on May 31, 2024.

Review: ‘Bad Behaviour’ (2023), starring Jennifer Connelly, Alice Englert, Ben Whishaw and Dasha Nekrasova

January 30, 2023

by Carla Hay

Jennifer Connelly in “Bad Behaviour” (Photo courtesy of Sundance Institute)

“Bad Behaviour” (2023)

Directed by Alice Englert

Culture Representation: Taking place in Oregon and in New Zealand, the comedy/drama film “Bad Behaviour” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A depressed actress, who used to be famous when she was a teenager, goes to a therapeutic retreat, and she experiences odd situations while trying to mend her strained relationship with her adult daughter, who is working in New Zealand as a movie stunt performer. 

Culture Audience: “Bad Behaviour” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Jennifer Connelly and pointless and dull movies where self-absorbed people are obnoxious.

Ben Whishaw in “Bad Behaviour” (Photo courtesy of Ahi Films)

Observational comedies about self-pitying, privileged neurotics can be amusing if done with some clever self-awareness. “Bad Behaviour” tries too hard to be cutesy and dark, with no wit involved. It all adds up to being an irritating, self-indulgent mess. “Bad Behaviour” had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It’s yet another movie about someone who goes on a “getaway trip” to try to find some relief from personal problems, and the person finds out that running away from these problems isn’t the answer.

“Bad Behaviour” is the feature-film directorial debut of Alice Englert, who also wrote the movie. Englert is best known as an actress, with roles in such films as 2012’s “Ginger & Rosa” and 2019’s “Them That Follow,” as well as TV series such as 2016’s “Top of the Lake,” 2020’s “Ratched” and 2022’s “Dangerous Liaisons.” Englert also happens to be the daughter of Oscar-winning director Jane Campion. This family connection is worth noting because Campion makes a cameo in “Bad Behaviour” as an unnamed doctor, while Englert has an acting role Campion’s 2021 film “The Power of the Dog.”

In “Bad Behaviour,” Jennifer Connelly portrays Lucy, a depressed actress who is going to a therapuetic retreat in Oregon at a place called Loveland Ranch. While driving by herself to this retreat, Lucy calls her daughter Dylan (played by Englert), a stunt performer who is in her 20s and is currently in New Zealand on the set of a sci-fi action movie. A lot of the movie’s action scenes take place in a wooded area. (“Bad Behaviour” was actually filmed in New Zealand.)

The phone conversation between Lucy and Dylan is brief, because Dylan’s phone service isn’t very good in these woods. However, they are on the phone long enough for Lucy to tell Dylan that Lucy is going on a “semi-silent retreat in the wildnerness, so don’t expect to hear from me.” Dylan is very indifferent and doesn’t seem very interested in talking on the phone with her mother. Before their phone connection get cut off, Dylan tells Lucy that Dylan is at work. “I have to teach a guy to strangle me,” Dylan says in a distracted tone.

When Lucy arrives at Loveland Ranch (which is in a semi-isolated wooded location), she’s told by the receptionist Petunia (played by Ana Scotney) that there is no WiFi service outside of the reception area. The retreat participants are also discouraged from using their cell phones, because cell phones are considered to be distracting for this retreat. Petunia also says that the people on this retreat are being filmed for a documentary. It’s the first sign that this so-called “private” retreat has a lot of contradictory things about it. It’s partially because this retreat is like a very bad, unfunny joke, and partially because the writing for this movie is so sloppy.

Lucy is surprised to hear that the therapy sessions will be filmed. And so, Lucy tells Petunia that she doesn’t want to be filmed when she’s revealing personal information during these sessions. Petunia accepts this request from Lucy and says that Lucy can just tell the camera operator Mark (played by Thomas Sainsbury) when Lucy does not feel comfortable being filmed, and Mark will stop filming Lucy. All of this doesn’t matter in the end, because viewers will see later in the movie that Lucy eventually forgets that the cameras are there.

Everything about Loveland Ranch reeks of being pretentious, pricey, and aimed at gullible people who are desperate for emotional comfort. The retreat is led by a famous guru named Elon Bello (played by Ben Whishaw), a Brit whose therapy credentials are never mentioned, probably because he doesn’t have any legitimate therapy credentials. There are about 10 participants in the therapy sessions that take place in “Bad Behaviour,” with each therapy session becoming more and more annoying to watch.

This is the type of nonsense that Elon spouts when greeting the therapy participants: “I invite you to begin this time with yourselves, without the stories that drove you here … I invite us to be quiet, to give yourself permission to be a little mysterious … I encourage you not to smile at each other, no winking, so signing. You can use the [writing] board, or come to me or Petunia if you’re feeling panic, of course.”

The problem with Elon’s instructions is that he constantly contradicts them, thereby giving the therapy sessions a rambling and unfocused tone—much like how Englert directs this movie. For a so-called “semi-silent” retreat, people sure do a lot of talking about themselves and their sob stories, and they make a lot of noise. In one therapy session, the participants are paired up for role playing, with one person in the pair acting as a sad baby, while the other person is acting as a nurturing mother.

At first, Lucy is emotionally closed-off and doesn’t want to reveal too much of herself. Eventually, she is told that she has to fully open up about herself to the rest of the group, which is a direct contradiction to Elon saying earlier, “I give you permission to be a little bit mysterious.”

It’s how viewers find out that Lucy is a “has-been” actress whose fame peaked when she was a teenager. Her main claim to fame was starring as a “warrior princess” in a TV series called “Florida Fierce.” She also has a long history of depression, stemming from her unhappy childhood being raised by alcoholic parents, who also had a history of depression.

In a “confession session,” the participants are told to confess the biggest thing that makes them feel ashamed about themselves. Lucy says she’s ashamed that “I’m just a greedy, needy, lazy, paranoid human being, living off the money I made from the character that gave me an eating disorder.” Elon irresponsibly makes no effort to find out from Lucy how this eating disorder is affecting her now.

During a break from the sessions, Lucy sneaks outside in the back of the building to use her phone to text an unidentified person. This person advises Lucy that she needs to “purge” her emotional baggage at this retreat. The text conversation also includes some other information about Lucy’s life that can only be seen if viewers are able to pause the screen and read these text messages.

This information includes the fact that Lucy’s mother was suicidal. When Lucy was 17, Lucy used to date a friend of her father. This “friend” gave herpes to Lucy. Later in Lucy’s life, Lucy’s ex-husband Ralph, who is Dylan’s father, left Lucy and Dylan. These are all important details of Lucy’s background that can explain why Lucy feels depressed and damaged, but “Bad Behaviour” only touches on the suicidal tendencies of Lucy’s mother. It’s a missed opportunity to explore other aspects of Lucy’s life that led her to this point.

Instead, “Bad Behaviour” goes on an off-putting tangent where Lucy and another retreat participant get into an unspoken competition about who’s going to get the most sympathy in these therapy sessions. Lucy’s rival to be the Loveland Ranch queen of neuroses is a fashion model in her 20s named Beverly (played by Dasha Nekrasova), who soon tells everyone at the retreat that she has suicidal thoughts. “I like to write suicide notes, and I fantasize about my funeral,” says Beverly. “I’d rather be dead. That’s my shame.”

In response, Elon says to Beverly: “You are at an airport right now. You know your flight will crash. Do not get on it.” He adds with a smirk: “Although sometimes, crashing has its benefits.” This comment is meant to be part of the the dark comedy of “Bad Behaviour,” but it’s all just so lackluster, despite having the very talented Whishaw in this role of a flaky guru.

At first, Lucy tries to be friendly to Beverly, but Lucy loses interest when Beverly acts haughty and superior to Lucy. For example, during a break from the therapy, Beverly asks Lucy to take photos of Beverly on Beverly’s cell phone, so that Beverly can post the photos on Beverly’s social media. The two women then low-key bicker about the proper lighting and how Beverly poses for these pictures.

Lucy and Beverly then take their hostility to each other into the therapy sessions. They trade thinly veiled insults related to their respective ages. When Beverly confesses that she’s worried about losing her “currency” of youth and beauty when she gets older, Lucy snarkily says that it’s inevitable. Meanwhile, Beverly makes snide remarks to make Lucy feel like a washed-up old hag.

It’s unfortunate that with all the ways that this movie’s plot could have gone, it devolves into a tiresome and lazy cliché of two women who are jealous of each other and get catty about it. Something happens later in the movie between Beverly and Lucy that takes this already jumbled and unappealing movie to the point of no return in ridiculousness. “Bad Behaviour” is trying desperately to be an artsy dark comedy, but too many aspects of this dreadful film look like ripoff ideas from a semi-scripted and tacky reality show.

In addition, “Bad Behaviour” awkwardly meshes the concurrent storylines of Lucy and Dylan. Most of “Bad Behaviour” goes back and forth between showing Lucy at the Loveland Ranch in Oregon, and Dylan on the movie set in New Zealand. Dylan’s activities are even more tedious and less insightful into her personality than what is shown about Lucy. Occasionally, Lucy and Dylan are seen talking to each other on the phone while they are so far away from each other.

There are too many scenes of Dylan running, fighting, and jumping around the movie set in visual effects costumes, with no real point to these scenes. She’s training another stunt performer named Dion (played by Beulah Koale) during the filming of this movie. There’s some sexual attraction between Dion and Dylan. And you can easily predict the rest.

“Bad Behaviour” brings up too many questions that it never bothers to answer. Sure, viewers know that Dylan has a lot of resentment toward Lucy, but the movie offers very little explanation for what their mother/daughter relationship was like before the events in the movie take place. The cast members’ performances aren’t bad, but they’re not that special either. The best acting in the movie comes from Connelly, who delivers some convincing-looking emotions in the scenes where she has to show those emotions.

However, the dialogue and tone of “Bad Behaviour” are just a confused mishmash, since Englert can’t quite capably juggle the movie’s intended combination of comedy and drama. The character of Elon is very shallow, as are all the people at the retreat. The movie spends so much of its focus on the “Lucy verses Beverly” storyline, it’s to the detriment of character development. Karan Gill has a very clumsily written role as a young attorney named Leonard “Leo” Gow, who becomes part of the story in the last third of the movie.

“Bad Behaviour” isn’t the worst movie you could ever see. The cinematography, especally in the outdoor scenes, can be quite eye-catching. However, considering the talent in this movie’s cast, “Bad Behaviour” should have been a lot better than the monotonous and aimless slog that it is. There’s an attempt to “shake things up” with a sudden turn of events, but everything about it looks phony and out-of-touch. “Bad Behaviour” is like a misguided therapy session that tries to look it might have some purpose, but it ends up doing more things wrong than right, and it becomes a waste of everyone’s time.

UPDATE: Ahi Films will release “Bad Behaviour” in New Zealand cinemas on November 2, 2023, and in Australian cinemas on November 9, 2023. Gravitas Ventures will release “Bad Behaviour” in select U.S. cinemas, digital and VOD on June 14, 2024.

Review: ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ starring Tom Cruise

May 12, 2022

by Carla Hay

Miles Teller and Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Top Gun: Maverick”

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

Culture Representation: Taking place in California, the action film “Top Gun: Maverick” features a cast of predominantly white characters (with some African Americans and Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: U.S. Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell returns to the TOPGUN aviator program, where he reluctantly becomes an instructor for new recruits, including a man who blames Maverick for damaging his career and causing his father’s death. 

Culture Audience: “Top Gun: Maverick” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Tom Cruise, 1986’s “Top Gun” and any formulaic action sequel that is a virtual copy of its predecessor.

Jennifer Connelly and Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

“Top Gun: Maverick” is an uninspired, outdated retread of 1986’s “Top Gun,” but with more implausible scenarios and with no women in military leadership positions. Even the original songs in this sequel are forgettable. While “Top Gun: Maverick” has more racial diversity than the first “Top Gun” movie, the people of color in the movie are still relegated to “sidekick” and forgettable roles. “Top Gun: Maverick” makes the same mistake that a lot of sequels do: Copying the same plot as the first movie without improving it.

What makes this mistake less acceptable is that “Top Gun: Maverick” has arrived 36 years after the release of the first “Top Gun” movie. That’s plenty of time to think up ways to take the movie in innovative and clever directions. (By contrast, Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise keeps things fresh with stories and action scenes that are unique to each movie.) Directed by Joseph Kosinski, “Top Gun: Maverick” was originally supposed to be released in 2019, but it was delayed multiple times because of post-production issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons. The movie was filmed before the pandemic.

A sequel should have familiar elements of its predecessor. It doesn’t mean that a sequel should rehash a predecessor’s plot. Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie wrote the formulaic and disappointing screenplay for “Top Gun: Maverick,” which essentially regurgitates the same story in “Top Gun.”

Both movies are about the U.S. Navy’s Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego. This elite school is nicknamed TOPGUN. Both movies are about a hotshot young TOPGUN school airplane pilot clashing with an arrogant rival classmate while being haunted by the death of a loved one and facing a big challenge in the training program.

In “Top Gun,” Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell character (played by Tom Cruise) was the hotshot student. In “Top Gun: Maverick,” he’s the main TOPGUN instructor, who has to teach his group of TOPGUN graduates how to fight in a secretive government mission targeting an unsanctioned uranium nuclear plant. In a case of history repeating itself, “Top Gun: Maverick” also has a funeral scene when someone close to Maverick dies.

Eddie Murphy’s horrible 2021 comedy Coming 2 America (the long-awaited sequel to 1988’s “Coming to America”) made the same mistake of lazily copying the same basic plot of its predecessor and trying to make the story look new by introducing a younger generation of new characters. “Coming 2 America” had even worse results, because of the movie’s awful racism and sexism, including making a joke out of an African American woman getting pregnant after she drugged and raped a man. “Top Gun: Maverick” isn’t as offensively bad as “Coming 2 America,” but the movie still has a “stuck in the 1980s” mindset that looks out of place in a movie that’s supposed to take place in the 21st century.

The first “Top Gun” movie (directed by Tony Scott, who died in 2012, at the age of 68) had only two or three people of color in the entire movie. They were African American men who were mostly put in the background. Only one of the African American men was allowed to speak in the movie, and he was literally given just two minor sentences to say. “Top Gun” was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.

To its credit, “Top Gun: Maverick” has a lot more racial diversity in its cast. There are some African American and Latino characters who say more than a few sentences, but their personalities are very hollow and generic. Needless to say, the people of color in “Top Gun” Maverick” do not get backstories or a significant storyline in the movie.

“Top Gun: Maverick” also falters in its depiction of women, who are once again made into token characters. But in “Top Gun: Maverick,” the depiction of the women goes in a backwards direction, because there are no women shown in positions of power in the U.S. miliary or in the TOPGUN training program. Women have come a long way in the U.S. military since 1986, but you’d never know it from watching “Top Gun: Maverick,” which puts only men in military leadership positions.

At least in “Top Gun,” one of the main characters was an intelligent woman in a position of power, even though she was still a token: Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (played by Kelly McGillis), a civilian and an astrophysicist, who was an instructor in the TOPGUN program. Charlie and Maverick became romantically involved with each other. The movie realistically shows that Charlie was conflicted about this relationship because of how it might compromise her professional judgment and reputation. McGillis shared top billing with Cruise in “Top Gun.” In “Top Gun: Maverick,” Cruise is one of the movie’s producers, and he’s the only star who gets top billing.

The only other woman in “Top Gun” who had a significant speaking role (but got a lot less screen time than Charlie) was bubbly and outgoing Carole Bradshaw (played by Meg Ryan), the wife of Lieutenant Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (played by Anthony Edwards), who was Maverick’s best friend and Radar Intercept Officer, also known as a “wingman.” Carole and Goose have a son, who’s about 5 or 6 years old in the movie. In “Top Gun,” Goose died in a tragic accident during a training session with Maverick as the pilot. Maverick was cleared of any wrongdoing, but he’s been guilt-ridden about Goose’s death ever since.

Charlie and Carole are not in “Top Gun: Maverick” because these female characters weren’t even considered for this sequel, according to interviews that director Kosinski has given about the movie. Charlie is not mentioned in “Top Gun: Maverick.” Carole is briefly mentioned because she’s dead, having passed away for an untold number of years before this story takes place. In other words, the “Top Gun: Maverick” filmmakers killed off the Carole Bradshaw character.

In “Top Gun: Maverick,” the son of Goose and Carole is all grown up now. And just like his father, he’s a U.S. Navy lieutenant who’s now a trainee in the TOPGUN program. His name is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (played by Miles Teller), and he’s got a chip on his shoulder and a lot to prove because he’s living in the shadow of his dead father, who was considered a military hero. If those “daddy issues” sound familiar, it’s exactly what Maverick was going through when he went through the TOPGUN training program. Maverick’s high-ranking U.S. Navy father was on a top-secret government mission when he went missing and is presumed dead.

Rooster knows that Maverick was not responsible for Goose’s death, but Rooster still has hard feelings toward Maverick over his father’s untimely passing. Rooster also resents Maverick because Maverick blocked Rooster from getting into the U.S. Naval Academy. Unbeknownst to Rooster, Maverick did so at the request of Rooster’s mother Carole, who didn’t want Rooster to be in the military. It was only after Carole died that Rooster was able to enroll in the U.S. Naval Academy.

In the beginning of “Top Gun: Maverick,” Maverick still has the ranking of captain. It’s explained that he has not been promoted for all these years because he has a tendency to be rebellious and reckless. However, the U.S. Navy has kept him on as a test pilot because of his extraordinary pilot skills. It’s mentioned in the movie that’s he’s the only pilot in the U.S. Navy to shoot down 30 enemy planes.

Maverick is considered a dinosaur relic from a bygone era by several high-ranking people in the U.S. Navy. Some of those people think he needs to be honorably discharged, but Maverick loves his military job too much to leave, and he is being protected by Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (played by Val Kilmer), who has a small supporting role in “Top Gun: Maverick.” As shown in the first “Top Gun” movie, Iceman (also played by Kilmer) was Maverick’s biggest rival in the TOPGUN program. However, they eventually became friends with deep respect for each other.

In California’s Mohave Desert, Maverick is part of a program that is being shut down because it hasn’t met Mach 10 standards. Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain (played by Ed Harris) is coming to the naval base for the official cancellation of the program. To embarrass him, Maverick takes a plane in the air, and not only hits the Mach 10 target, but he also exceeds it. But by doing so, he ends up flaming out, but how Maverick lands the plane is never shown. All that’s shown is that he comes back looking dirty and disheveled, without any injuries.

This unauthorized use of a military plane for a showoff stunt would be grounds for serious disciplinary action in the real world. But in this make-believe world where Maverick is supposed to be a roguish hero, time and time again, he gets let off the hook for his flagrant insubordination. Hammer tells Maverick with begrudging respect, “You’ve got some balls, stick jockey. I’ll give you that.” Get used to hokey dialogue like this in “Top Gun: Maverick,” because the movie is full of it.

Now that Maverick’s program has been shuttered, he’s been assigned to do something he doesn’t want to do: Go back to the TOPGUN program in San Diego to be an instructor. Maverick is one of those people who believes in that old saying, “Those who can’t do, teach.” In other words, he thinks this teaching job is for someone who’s a has-been or a never-was, who doesn’t have what it takes to currently be a pilot.

Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson (played by Jon Hamm) is one of the Navy officials who is gunning for Maverick to leave the Navy. He even says as much, when he tells Maverick: “The future is coming, and you’re not in it.” Cyclone has a sidekick named Admiral Solomon “Warlock” Bates (played by Charles Parnell), who doesn’t do much but be in the same room as Cyclone and go along with almost everything that Cyclone says. However, Warlock has a few moments where he shows that he’s really rooting for Maverick. The same goes for Warrant Officer-1 Bernie “Hondo” Coleman (played by Bashir Salahuddin), who makes some bland wisecracks during the movie.

Maverick has to choose six of his 12 students to go on the secret mission to disable the uranium plant, which is set to activate in about three weeks. Predictably, Rooster and Maverick clash with each other. At one point, Rooster yells at Maverick: “My dad believed in you. I’m not going to make the same mistake!”

More than once in the movie, Maverick tells his trainees to ignore what they were taught in the Navy’s rulebook, and he says some variation of “Don’t think, just do” He expects them to not overthink things and to trust their instincts. Of course, in Maverick’s lectures about not following what authority figures say, he thinks he’s the exception, because he wants to be the only authority figure who must be obeyed in this program.

In addition to Rooster, the other students in the program include Rooster’s smirking, cocky rival Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin (played by Glen Powell), whose personality is a virtual replica of how Iceman was in the first “Top Gun” movie. Hangman tries to find emotional weakness in Rooster to have a competitive advantage. When Hangman discovers Rooster’s “daddy issues” and why Rooster has tensions with Maverick, it leads to the inevitable fist fight between Hangman and Rooster.

The token woman in this group of chosen trainees is Lieutenant Natasha “Phoenix”
Trace (played by Monica Barbaro), who doesn’t have much of a personality, except trying to fit in with the guys. Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Floyd (played by Lewis Pullman) has the role of the nerd who’s somewhat of social outcast in this competitive group. Bob gets teased because he hasn’t thought up a flashy nickname, also known as a call sign, like all the other TOPGUN aviators.

The other trainees do not have distinguishable personalities and are given very trite dialogue. They include Lieutenant Reuben “Payback” Fitch (played by Jay Ellis); Lieutenant Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia (played by Danny Ramirez); and Lt. Javy “Coyote” Machado (played by Greg Tarzan Davis). Most viewers of “Top Gun: Maverick” will have a hard time remembering these three characters’ names and what they said by the time the movie is over.

Unlike the first “Top Gun” movie, which showed the male trainees carousing at bars and trying to pick up women, the trainees in “Top Gun” are a much tamer crew. When they go to a bar, they gather around a piano and sing Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” with Rooster playing the piano. Maverick sees this camaraderie, and it triggers him to have a flashback memory to when he, Goose and other TOPGUN trainees did the same thing, with Goose’s young son sitting nearby for the sing-along. (This scene from “Top Gun” is shown as a flashback.)

Speaking of bars where these TOPGUN people hang out, the main bar they go to is The Hard Deck aviators’ club. It just happens to be owned and bartended by Penny Benjamin (played by Jennifer Connelly), who is the daughter of a U.S. Navy admiral. Penny was briefly mentioned, but never seen, in the first “Top Gun” movie as one of the many conquests whom ladies’ man Maverick got sexually involved with and then dumped.

Penny is now a divorced mother to a daughter named Amelia Benjamin (played by Lyliana Wray), who’s about 13 or 14 years old. Penny’s ex-husband, who is never seen in “Top Gun: Maverick,” has remarried and is living in Hawaii. It’s implied that never-married bachelor Maverick and Penny have had an on-again/off-again relationship, where Maverick left her heartbroken because he ended things with her every time. When Penny sees Maverick again all these years later, she predictably gives him a hard time for breaking up with her.

But just as predictably, she eventually lets him back into her life, and they rekindle their romance. Maverick and Penny look good together as a couple, but they don’t generate as much romantic heat as Maverick had with Charlie. Although Penny is a business owner, her role is essentially to be a generic love interest who follows Maverick’s lead when he courts her and succeeds in winning a place back into her heart.

Penny initially wants to keep this rekindled romance a secret from her daughter Amelia, who inevitably finds out anyway. Even after it’s no longer a secret, Maverick doesn’t spend any quality time with Amelia, which he would care about doing if he’s serious about a relationship with Penny. That’s why Maverick’s level of commitment to Penny is questionable, no matter how many “romantic” scenes are shown of Penny riding with Maverick on the back of his motorcycle. This scenario of Maverick giving his love interest a motorcycle ride is also recycled from the first “Top Gun” movie.

“Top Gun: Maverick” delivers when it comes to the airplane action scenes (with the F/A-18 being the airplane of choice), but too much of the movie is tediously predictable recycling of plot points and scenes from the first “Top Gun” movie. The scene of Maverick on a motorcycle while playfully racing a soaring fighter plane is recreated. It’s in the movie for pure nostalgia reasons for people who saw the first “Top Gun” movie.

Another recycled scene takes place at a beach where the TOPGUN aviators are playing a sports game together in their free time. In “Top Gun,” it was volleyball. In “Top Gun: Maverick,” it’s touch football. This beach frolicking scene only seems to be in the movie so that Cruise and the other men can be shirtless and show off their toned physiques. Even the closing credits scene is styled exactly like the first “Top Gun” movie.

One of the highlights of “Top Gun: Maverick” is a poignant scene between Maverick and Iceman, who is battling throat cancer, just Kilmer is in real life. However, “Top Gun: Maverick” ends up being marred by too many unrealistic scenarios. There’s even more disregard of real-life U.S. military protocol than what was in the first “Top Gun” movie. Maverick does things that would get him dishonorably discharged in the real world—but of course he doesn’t get discharged, because this is a Tom Cruise movie. And the ending of “Top Gun: Maverick” is even more cornball than the ending of the first “Top Gun” movie.

The “Top Gun” soundtrack was the biggest-selling soundtrack of 1986. And it’s easy to know why. People who’ve seen the first “Top Gun” movie know how the music was used to great effect. Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” song fueled a high-energy scene early in the movie. Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” memorably played during a romantic scene between Charlie and Maverick on the night that they became lovers. Those two signature “Top Gun” songs were instant classics that stayed in viewers’ minds long after seeing the movie. Although “Top Gun” got some criticism for being filmed almost like a music video, there’s no denying that the movie’s music was one of its biggest assets.

Unfortunately, “Top Gun: Maverick” has an utterly mediocre soundtrack, with songs that have been used in many other movies, such as Foghat’s “Slow Ride” and T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On).” There’s nothing wrong with these tunes, but they’re overplayed in too many other places. And because “Top Gun: Maverick” is a movie of rehashes, “Danger Zone” also makes a reappearance. The original soundtrack songs on “Top Gun: Maverick,” such as Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand,” won’t be winning any Oscars, like Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.”

Viewers who will enjoy “Top Gun” the most are those who want to see a superficial recreation of the first “Top Gun” movie. But for other people who know that “Top Gun: Maverick” could have been a lot better, the movie falls short in coming up with any major story arc that would be truly original and daring for this sequel. The performances in “Top Gun Maverick” aren’t terrible, but they aren’t that special either. In the end, “Top Gun: Maverick,” just like its main character, is stuck in a rut of reliving past glories, and ends up having more swagger and posturing than any real substance.

Paramount Pictures will release “Top Gun: Maverick” in U.S. cinemas on May 27, 2022.

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