Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick follows Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) who after more than 30 years of service is where he belongs, one of the Navy’s top aviators, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. However, that all changes when Maverick is put in charge of training a group of Top Gun graduates for a special assignment under the orders of his fellow naval aviator friend and former rival, Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer). Among the trainees is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s late best friend Nick “Goose” Bradshaw. Maverick is forced to confront the ghosts of his past and his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who choose to fly it.
Top Gun was probably one of the few films I never really expected to get a sequel, even in a current age where sequels, reboots, and revivals of impactful 80s properties are frequent. I had no idea what to expect since I just recently watched the first film in its entirety for the first time and don’t have as much of a strong attachment to it as many others have. Regardless I was still open to whatever this sequel had to offer. And I am happy to say that this film offered me plenty of things that I absolutely loved and thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.
Top Gun: Maverick is by far one of the best modern sequels we have received in recent years, one that manages to surpass its predecessor in many ways. While I might not be as attached to Top Gun compared to others I can definitely say this film lives up to expectations while also offering much more than expected. Rather than be a simple repeat of the first film that relies on nostalgia it is a grand continuation of the Top Gun story in a modern setting with modern updates.
This film is not as heavily 80s as its predecessor and feels very much like a grown-up film throughout. Are there tropes and callbacks littered throughout the film? Absolutely, but it’s all handled perfectly and flows with the story.
Most of the performances in the film were fantastic across the board, especially for the new characters, but there are definitely some solid standouts we get, including our titular lead character.
Tom Cruise delivers his most emotionally compelling performance in years with his return as Maverick. He’s still the incredible pilot that takes things to the extreme, but he is much wiser this time around and still carries the emotional weight of the death of his best friend Goose, which plays a large part in his story as he prepares the new blood for a deadly mission. He cares greatly for his students but mostly for Bradley Bradshaw, played excellently by Miles Teller, who he had desperately tried to protect due to what happened with his father.
But Maverick’s refusal to let go of the past puts him at odds with Bradley throughout the film, creating great personal conflict for him that he struggles with, on top of making sure all the other pilots can return home alive from the mission. It’s a great modern take on the character that elevates him from the cheesy action lead he was in the first film to a very compelling character, one who’s given a spectacular performance by Tom Cruise. And of course, as expected, Tom does his own flying throughout this film and was absolutely incredible alongside the other pilots.
All the new pilots were given great performances by their respective actors, with Miles Teller being a standout alongside Glen Powell as Hangman. Is he your typical ego-driven character of the bunch? Absolutely, but Powell does a great job with the role and manages to have some great scenes of his own even with the role being a trope we have seen before.
Jennifer Connely plays Maverick’s new love interest for this film, and while she does share some great on-screen chemistry with him I never felt any major spark between them like there was between him and Charlotte Blackwood from the previous film. She’s an entirely new character that apparently had history with Maverick, but I never really felt that history between them, and whenever they shared scenes it didn’t really contribute that much to the story or Maverick’s character. Had this been a character that was established from the first film maybe it would have worked better in my view. Connely does deliver a good performance and her scenes with Cruise aren’t bad in any way but I don’t think her inclusion was absolutely necessary for the story.
One character and performance I do really need to talk about is the brief but surprising return of Val Kilmer as Iceman. Val Kilmer, having suffered from throat cancer that forced him to retire from acting, has been absent from the big screen for many years, so when they mentioned his character’s involvement in the film and showed an image of him in the form of a portrait I thought that was going to be the only thing we would get of him considering the actor’s real-life health status. But to my surprise, he actually physically shows up in one scene that I won’t go into any detail about, but all I can say was that it was both touching and heartbreaking, not only because of how it plays into the story but because this felt like a true final send-off for one of the most talented actors in history. This was his final performance that he was willing to return to despite his poor health, and yet manages to deliver the most impactful scene of the film and I really loved it.
The story of this film is well written and while it does a few familiar story beats from the first film it does largely stand out on its own as a continuation that is guaranteed to age better as time goes on, especially with how it delivers on drama, emotion, and thrills.
There are no heavy cheesy moments to make you roll your eyes in this film and no overreliance on nostalgia. I was concerned with how the film opened at first as it felt like a direct recreation of the opening of the first film, complete with the same score, same shots, same lighting, and the inclusion of the song Danger Zone. But after that opening, the film plays out completely different going forward, with most of the fan service and callbacks kept to the first few minutes. I guess it does serve its purpose in hooking in older audiences’ nostalgia, but then it proceeds to engage the audience with new characters and story in an original manner, which is one of the best things this sequel does.
But perhaps the biggest element of this film that most have heard or talked about is the jet fighter action and the technical elements. Well, I can definitely say that the hype is real and the praise is absolutely earned. The first film had great flight sequences that were ahead of its time but this film takes everything to a whole new level with a bigger budget and the advancements in aviator technology. The flight sequences in this film are absolutely phenomenal and very authentic with spectacular action, editing, and cinematography, making this film feel like a grand epic in some places, especially when it comes to the deadly mission in the final act.
Everything is filmed so perfectly that you feel everything the pilots are enduring and the great stakes involved. One mistake can be your last, and this film makes that very clear even more than its predecessor. Even with advancements in technology, there are still many dangers when it comes to being a navy pilot and the characters are very aware of this fact. It makes the sequences feel more thrilling and full of tension, especially when most of the sequences were done with real jets.
I know there are obviously some visual effects at play in some action scenes but to be perfectly honest I could never really tell what was real and what was CGI, it’s that damn good. While in some major blockbuster films you can tell what is practical and what is CGI easily this was one film I could never truly tell the difference, it’s goddamn crazy. You could really tell that Cruise and the production team put their all into making this film feel as authentic as possible and I can say they succeeded. And of course, we do get a great score and soundtrack featuring a few noticeable artists. Legendary composer Hans Zimmer gets to inject his own take on the Top Gun theme beautifully, and the always incredible Lady Gaga delivers a fantastic original song for the film’s end credits.
Top Gun Maverick is a brilliantly crafted sequel that is masterfully made in many ways despite a few nitpicks here and there. I think fans of the original Top Gun are going to absolutely love this, along with many others looking for an incredible cinematic experience outside of major blockbuster franchises. This is definitely a film I could see being on a lot of lists for top films of 2022. It’s certainly going to be in mine. I’m going to give Top Gun: Maverick an A+ = 98.
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