Tom Cruise has become a bastion of the cinematic experience
Fused so organically with the Hollywood machine, Tom Cruise is a curious figure in the entertainment industry. Part action movie maverick, akin to the wild on-screen phenomenon Buster Keaton, and incessant supporter of innovative cinema, the actor and former 1990s pin-up star has become one of the last remaining bastions of the cinematic experience, promoting the unparalleled awe of the silver screen where Hollywood epics inspire box-office triumph.
Indeed, the movie industry has changed dramatically since Cruise’s heyday in the late 1980s and 1990s, with audiences no longer magnetised to the reverence of cinema thanks to the progress of rival media formats. The so-called ‘cinematic experience’ can now be accessed outside of the traditional multiplex, with video games offering extraordinarily immersive experiences, whilst TV now rivals movies in terms of budget and scope, with shows like House of the Dragon and The Last of Us offering visions indiscernible from cinema itself.
Where does cinema stand during a time when TV companies, social media apps, video games and countless other forms of visual media are constantly vying for our eyes and attention? Disney’s answer to this question was to purchase popular brands and dilute such beloved franchises as Marvel and Star Wars by essentially transforming them into uniform products that bump, clang and stumble with the same CGI pulp, prompting others to do the same when they recognised the reliable format of success.
Countless others adopted the thinking of ‘if you can’t beat em, join em’, yet, out of the smog, much like his Mission: Impossible counterpart Ethan Hunt, Tom Cruise is emerging to save cinema from the clutches of irrelevance.
Although the Hollywood star has long advocated for the importance of the cinemagoing experience, it wasn’t until 2020 that this version of the actor would become so publicly prominent, hitting the headlines during the Covid-19 pandemic due to his angry insistence that his co-workers on the set of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One wear face masks in order to comply with strict health regulations. The audio of his rant went viral, and whilst some were quick to criticise his forthright conviction, it was clear that he was simply trying to defend and uphold the standards of his industry at threat.
Dead Reckoning Part One is still yet to hit cinemas but looks to continue the spirit of the franchise with a frenetic espionage pace and approach to practical action sequences that put its industry counterparts to shame. Performing all his own stuntwork, Cruise has become a dogged protector of cinematic expression, with the father of the American blockbuster, Steven Spielberg, passionately praising the actor in the years that followed the financially crippling Covid-19 pandemic.
“You saved Hollywood’s ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” Spielberg told Cruise regarding his critical and commercial success of Top Gun: Maverick in the latter stages of 2022. “Seriously, Top Gun: Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry,” the director emphatically reiterated.
Cruise went to great lengths to ensure that his Top Gun sequel played in cinemas too, despite it being released in a turbulent period when the world was still trying to figure out how to live with Covid-19. “I make movies for the big screen,” Cruise maintained, “I’ve spent a lot of time with theatre owners. The people that serve the popcorn, the ones who make this [happen]. Ignoring the allure of streaming services and the promise of slight financial relief, he told cinema chains and independent theatre owners, “Please, I know what you’re going through. Just know we are making Mission: Impossible and Top Gun is coming out”.
Now that Top Gun: Maverick has earned an Academy Award and over one billion dollars at the box office, Cruise has turned his attention to Mission: Impossible, tenaciously promoting his new film with unparalleled personal gusto. Yet, his interests aren’t entirely self-serving, for there is no future for his bombastic action movies without a vigorous movie industry to prop up his talents, making him a bastion for the protection of the Hollywood experience in general.
Praising Harrison Ford’s latest Indiana Jones adventure whilst promoting the box office showdown on July 21st, during which Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s cute pastel pink comedy Barbie are set to go face-to-face, Cruise is a protector of the cinematic experience that once seemed lost. Heed his words, go to the movies.
