When I watched the first Top Gun a few years ago, it was really good, especially because of the sadness and excitement that came with it. However, I was blown away after I saw Top Gun: Maverick. This review may have some slight spoilers, so read at your own risk. Enjoy!

Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the movie Top Gun, which came out in 1986, and starred Tom Cruise as young pilot Pete Mitchell, aka Maverick, and Anthony Edwards as his friend Goose. Maverick takes place a while after the events of Top Gun and explains where Maverick currently is in his life, and how he is dealing with the death of Goose.

Maverick (Tom Cruise), having stayed a Naval Captain while his friends from the pilot program Top Gun rose in ranks, is introduced as a test pilot for a new scramjet plane project. He gets a call telling him to return to Top Gun as a trainer for a new batch of pilots enrolled in the program. One of these pilots, Rooster (Miles Teller), is his late friend Goose’s son. Maverick sees Rooster and it only reminds him of his best friend and everything they did together. Goose, however, isn’t best friends with Maverick and holds a grudge towards him as Maverick had pulled Rooster out of the program before to protect him. As Maverick starts teaching the class and preparing them for their new mission, a dangerous and risky test of skill that only a crazy pilot would be able to fly, tension between Rooster and Maverick grows, and stakes rise even higher.

I absolutely loved this movie. It was mind-blowing how they pulled off a sequel to a movie almost 30 years later, and a good sequel at that. The original Top Gun movie didn’t need a sequel, at least not in my opinion, but now that I’ve seen it, I am so happy they made it. It was filled with thrilling action scenes, amazing cockpit views of the flights, and it was just a roller coaster of action and emotion. Not to mention the actor choices. Miles Teller was a great choice for Rooster, and with Tom Cruise returning as Maverick, things only got better from there. The movie also introduced some new faces like Hangman (Glen Powell), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Bob (Lewis Pullman), Payback (Jay Ellis), and many more. Also, the pure skill of the piloting was amazing! Some of the flying scenes inside the F-18 cockpits were real and seeing how Tom Cruise has a piloting license, it amazes me how skilled these actors really are.

Overall, this movie was great, and I would highly recommend watching it, but only if you’ve seen the first Top Gun. So, next time you’re looking for a good movie to watch, try watching Top Gun: Maverick. You won’t regret it. Thanks for reading!

-Brandt D.

Since the dawn of time, an eternal war has been waged across the universe: the Eternals, immortal aliens gifted with abilities to stop the Deviants, monstrous creatures who seek only death and destruction. Earth has been one such battleground for these two groups, and for millennia the Eternals have protected the seeds of humanity and allowed them to flourish into a thriving modern civilization. However, with the return of the Deviants, the Eternals are forced to come out of hiding and into the light to protect the Earth one last time.

This is the premise of Eternals, a 2021 film that is arguably the first film to really be a part of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), since it seeks to connect the past with the present, providing a new structure for the MCU as well as teases for future storylines. Unfortunately, it is this emphasis on the future that weakens the present film itself, leaving viewers looking forward to the new additions to the MCU rather than enjoying the film.

This is partly due to the sheer number of characters introduced in the span of a two and a half hour film. There are ten main Eternals in the movie, and it is difficult for the casual viewer to commit to memory each name, face, and power, especially since some of the characters have incredibly similar and trite powers, like lasers or super strength. This endeavor is quickly rendered futile, though, since half of the major characters are killed off within the first hour of the film.

The audience’s inability to connect with the characters on the screen diminishes every aspect of the film. The surprising plot twist would have worked better if it wasn’t shown primarily off-screen. The romantic aspects of the plot were awkward and at some points distasteful to watch. The Deviants, supposedly the big bad villains of the movie, were almost completely written off by the end of it.

All of this is to say that, in my opinion, Eternals was one of more flawed movies of the MCU, rivaling Thor: The Dark World, however strong of a comparison that may be. In the end, the weak plot was spread far too thin, leaving viewers unsatisfied with the entirety of the film. As a dedicated Marvel movie-goer, I hope that future MCU films do not make the same mistakes as Eternals did.

– Mahak M.

Eternals is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Sonic the Hedgehog is without a doubt one of the most popular and well known video game characters. He is a fast, funny, and blue hedgehog. What’s not to love about him? Sonic made his big screen debut originally in September 2020. Two years later, Sonic found himself on the big screen again in the sequel, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which hit theater screens in the United States on April 8, 2022.

The film stars Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, a fox who has two tails and aspires to be as cool as Sonic. Together, they take on Jim Carrey as Dr. Eggman and Knuckles the Echidna played by Idris Elba, who are trying to take control of the Master Emerald. With the power of the Master Emerald the person who controls the emerald has the ability to turn thoughts into reality. The movie revolves around Sonic and Tails trying to track down the Master Emerald before Dr. Eggman and Knuckles get to it.

I really enjoyed this movie. I loved the interactions between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and the humans. I liked the story for the most part, but there were some loose ends and pointless scenes revolving around the humans that took up about 40 minutes of the already long 2 hour movie that wasn’t even part of the main storyline. I think this part really could have been tightened up a bit. I did, however, really enjoy the CGI battles between Sonic and Knuckles, and the way they showed Sonic’s speed compared to the other characters.

Overall, I would give this movie a thumbs up and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who just wants to see a fun, lighthearted movie with friends or family.

-Brandon G.

Where to begin? There is so much to talk about with this movie! Batman is one of DC’s most well-known heroes, and one of the darkest. His storylines are filled with crime, mysteries, and murder, with amazing plots and great illustrations. But let’s talk about the topic of the day: the movie.

At first, I have to admit, I was skeptical. Robert Pattinson, the actor who plays Batman/Bruce Wayne, is a great actor, no doubt about it, but it was hard to see the man who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as the Dark Knight. However, I was blown away. The movie was incredible, and I think he did an amazing job at playing Batman. Director Matt Reeves wrote a great story, and it fits together pretty well for a 3-hour movie. Though a bit confusing at times because of all the past references to Gotham’s past, the movie is filled with intense fighting, suspenseful scenes, and overall phenomenal acting by Robert Pattinson and Paul Dano (Riddler).

At the start of the movie, we see the mayor of Gotham watching the election on his tv, and talking on the phone. The Riddler, a darker and more sadistic version of the green-clad puzzle maker you may have seen in the comics, is revealed to have been there the entire time and murders the mayor. Leaving behind a set of clues for Batman to follow, the Riddler goes on to kill members of the police force and other high-ranking officials who are “corrupt” and don’t stay loyal to the citizens of Gotham. Teaming up with Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) and Commissioner Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), Batman solves the puzzle and uncovers an underground operation that could spell the end for the entire city.

As I said before, I really enjoyed the movie and it kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire thing. I think the directing, acting, and storyline are great, and can’t wait to see the movie again. I would definitely recommend this movie to any DC fan, or just anyone who knows a little bit about Batman. Thanks for reading!

-Brandt D.