Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Wish it had stuck with the opening credits’ simple cheesy fun formula of 80s music and jets flying around at sunset because other stuff like the dialogue (that opening bar scene introducing the aviators is excruciatingly long) and the romance (just, who cares?) is not done very well and interrupts any good flow garnered by the training sequences. That said, the emotion- and action-packed third act (“What were you thinking?” “You told me *not* to think!”) is pretty perfect with a Porsche on top.

6

Batman Forever (1995)

Batman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin. (IMDb)

The dialogue is bad, and aside from Carrey’s typically enjoyable schtick, everything about the baddies is really bad too: the two-villain dynamic is awkward AF (I read afterwards that TLJ hated Carrey on set and you can totally tell), the brain-sucking thing is dumb, and the “useless henchmen” syndrome here is the worst I’ve ever seen. Kilmer’s brooding Batman is good though and the campy action-based plot is fun enough, featuring some cool cinematography (loved those zooms and skewed shots).

6/10 (Mediocre)