I’m going to eat a little crow. We watched Top Gun: Maverick last night and while not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, utterly formulaic. I could predict what was going to happen ten moves before it even thought about happening.

I heard someone refer to it as middle-aged man porn. As a middle-aged man, but not one who gives a flying fuck about all the hoo-rah military bullshit, I agree.

You can practically see a bunch of overweight militia cosplayers grabbing their nuts and tiny little penises and roaring, with one hand held up in a fist, before furiously masturbating to the sound of jet engines and snappy military radio talk. I’m sure they followed that up by logging onto Truth Social and ranting about Muslims, women and queers, before checking their AR-16 collection is still intact (you know, for home security).

We rewatched the first one last year and I found it one of worst examples of toxic masculinity I’ve seen in a film. This is a movie for man-children, same as the Fast & Furious movies. No depth, no intelligence, just that false sheen of cocksuredness, and the ridiculous nut flex of some seriously over-the-hill men who can’t let go of the idea that might is right.

Target: 1100 words
Written: 1128 words, novella: The Mungk