Impossible Tom Maverick Cruise - A Saga

It was often  observed by my Aunt  - who chews on her morals like a terrier with an old slipper — that nothing good ever comes from leaping off buildings, clinging to the side of planes, or buzzing control towers on a vintage jet. And to that, I now raise the elegantly arched eyebrow of one Tom Cruise, the fellow who has, over the years, turned leaping, clinging, buzzing, and running very, very fast(like running to the Officer's/ Cadet's Mess in NDA after the movie) into a kind of performance art.

Yes, dear reader, I have just emerged from a prolonged and highly caffeinated binge of all the “Mission Impossible” and "Top Gun" films. A marathon three days of MI and Top Gun movies. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: if Tom Cruise ever gets bored of Hollywood, the Parachute Regiment will take him with open arms - and ask him to slow down a bit, because good lord, the chap moves.

Top Gun: Flyboys, Bromance & Aviators

In Top Gun (1986), Cruise debuts as Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a young hotshot pilot with a need for speed, a disdain for rules, and a leather jacket that does most of the acting. He zooms, he zags, he topples the entire chain of command while simultaneously toppling hearts - mostly that of his instructor, Charlie, and also half the audience.

Then, Top Gun: Maverick (2022) lands decades later like a phoenix doing a barrel roll. Older, wearier, and with more mileage than a second-hand Maruti Wagon R, Maverick is now mentoring new recruits, including the son of his late best chum, Goose(RIP). Cue much sky-bound acrobatics, emotional turbulence, and aerial bravado that makes one’s mustache tingle.

Mission Impossible: The Ethan Hunt School of Cardio Mayhem

Ah, Mission Impossible. A franchise where the plots are so convoluted. Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is a man perennially on the verge of sprinting. The fellow can smell a conspiracy from thirty miles and two disguises away. He’s leapt from planes, climbed the Burj Khalifa, clung to aircraft mid-takeoff, and done so with the sort of intensity one normally reserves for tax audits or IPL matches.

The films go as follows:

MI 1: Ethan is framed. Ethan runs. Ethan dangles from the ceiling. Classic.

MI 2: Doves! Doves everywhere! Also, motorcycles and slow-motion glowers.

MI 3: Philip Seymour Hoffman as a villain so scary, Ethan actually sweats.

MI 4 (Ghost Protocol): Burj Khalifa sequence. Human flies everywhere nod in respect.

MI 5 (Rogue Nation): Ethan holds his breath underwater for what felt like an entire cricket test match.

MI 6 (Fallout): HALO jumps, broken ankles, and a moustachioed Henry Cavill reloading his biceps mid-fight.

MI 7 (Dead Reckoning Part One): He jumps off a cliff on a motorcycle. I nearly dropped my sandwich.

MI 7 (Dead Reckoning Part Two): He deep dives to the Ocean Floor and again flies up in a Dog Fight sequence from WW1.

Cruise Control: The Man Behind the Madness

Now, one might ask: is Tom Cruise acting, or simply being Tom Cruise in various shades of peril? Answer: Does it matter? The man has built an entire career out of the following four activities:

1. Running - at a speed last observed in cheetahs or NDA cadets running in Glider Dome.

2. Jumping - off buildings, cliffs, and logic. So much like the 10 m jumps at the swimming pool.

3. Flying - jets, helicopters, and occasionally through the air after an explosion.

4. Smiling - that million-watt grin that’s disarmed more villains than ISI.

But beneath the stunts and sci-fi subplots, there lies a curious LIFE CODE. You see, Mr. Cruise, is ruled by duty. Whether it’s saving the world or mentoring Goose Jr., he always puts the mission above self. He’s lost friends, lovers, and comrades along the way - but never his unwavering belief that the good chaps must prevail, preferably while suspended from some kind of steel cable. Reminds me of,

the safety, honour, and welfare of the country come first, the honour, welfare, and comfort of the men they command come second, and their own comfort and safety come last

The Global Bond

What makes Cruise the toast of both chaps and lasses globally is not just his stunts or symmetrical face (though, by the beard of Zeus, both help). It’s his energy, his discipline, and his accessibility. Women admire his grace under pressure. Men want to run like him, punch like him, and possibly clone his mitochondria. Children watch in awe. Old ladies nod approvingly, if slightly confused.

In Conclusion: The Cruise Virtues

In both franchises, what defines Cruise isn’t just his action-hero antics. It’s that old-fashioned, somewhat SOLDIERLY trait: honour. Whether it’s Maverick defying orders to save a friend or Ethan risking nuclear doom to rescue a teammate, he remains resolutely guided by loyalty, courage, and a slight allergy to resting. So familiar to the creed of us, Soldiers.

So here’s to Tom Cruise — a man who has made cardio cinematic, and who, one suspects, will still be outrunning helicopters and his own stunt doubles well into the next century. Research tells me Cruise sleeps dangling upside down in a gravity pod. I believe him. It’s the only way the man hasn’t aged since Devanand.

PS - You must read it and should you choose to accept the Mission, DO comment. Of Course,  It will self destruct in 10 seconds!!!!!!

End transmission. Mission accomplished