Quick Hit (No Spoilers)
Top Gun: Maverick is a fun, entertaining movie that speaks to multiple generations. You’ll enjoy the humor, the action, and the characters. It’s a movie that plays on nostalgia without getting consumed by it. Top Gun: Maverick is a rare long-awaited sequel that manages to speak to the past while standing entirely on its own. A must see for the summer.
Full Breakdown (spoilers)
Let’s face it, it’s extremely rare for sequels to live up to an amazing debut, even rarer still for a sequel made decades later to not be a total train wreck (Dumb and Dumber 2, Matrix: Resurrection, Independence Day: Resurgence, to name a few.)
So when it was announced over 30 years later that Tom Cruise would be back to reprise his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell one could be forgiven for being skeptical. Add in a global pandemic that further delayed the film for 2 years, and it seemed highly unlikely that this film would hold a candle to the iconic original.
The original Top Gun movie was a smashing success. The film made over $180 million domestically and almost $360 million worldwide in 1986! It was one of the best movies of the 1980’s.
One of the issues with sequels, especially so with follow-ups to beloved blockbusters, is how you handle nostalgia. One way is to ignore or completely misinterpret the nostalgia (Star Wars Ep 7-9) or, more often, to rely too heavily upon it.
This was the challenge facing Top Gun: Maverick.
On this count, Top Gun: Maverick passes with flying colors.
It deftly tread the line between honoring the original and crafting something all on its own.
The Nostalgia
- “Danger Zone” theme is back
- Tom Cruise’s patched leather jacket is back
- Motorcycle chasing planes down the runway
- Lots of aviator sunglasses
- “Great Balls of Fire” also makes a return
- Ice Man is back (more on that later)
The Story
As Top Gun: Maverick begins, we find a continually insubordinate Pete “Maverick” Mitchell once again in trouble with a superior officer. About to be bounced out of the Navy, “Maverick” receives new life and a new assignment at the behest of now Admiral Tom “Ice Man” Kazansky (Val Kilmer).
Maverick finds himself back at Top Gun, this time to train the next generation of hot shots for a highly specialized and highly dangerous mission. His assignment is made more complicated as he is to evaluate the son of his deceased partner Goose. The son is “Rooster” Bradshaw- played by Miles Teller-and he is not exactly thrilled to see him.
Can Maverick prepare this highly talented but highly inexperienced group of pilots for their near suicidal mission while battling his own doubts, his own past, and his estranged relationship with his former partner’s son?
The Good
The flight scenes
Top Gun: Maverick features some incredible aerial action. From the opening experimental test flight, the dog fights during training, to the final mission, every flight is packed full on intense moments, adrenaline rushes, and of course, crazy stunt maneuvers. The advances in film making technology and techniques in the last 35 years show up best in these moments. You are engaged and on the edge of your seat throughout.
There hasn’t been a film this good about modern jet pilots possibly since Top Gun.
The Cast
- Tom Cruise has remarkable durability as an action star even though he’s days away from turning 60. He slips back into this role as easily as he does his patched leather jacket and aviator sunglasses.
- Jon Hamm plays an excellent foil as Maverick’s commanding officer who has no time for any of his antics.
- Jennifer Connelly is excellent, as always, playing Maverick’s rekindled love interest.
- Miles Teller was an excellent choice for Goose’s son. Not just because of the genuine physical resemblance, but also because if Teller has one stand out characteristic, it’s his ability exude anger, condescension, and attitude. It’s this ability that provides the primary character motivation throughout the movie.
IceMan
I had to single out this particular character as there are some special, real-life elements at play here. Val Kilmer is back playing IceMan. His character has morphed from fierce rival to key protector, mentor, and friend for Maverick. The relationship between these two is the most genuine and heartwarming aspect of the movie. It’s made even more so by the challenges faced by Kilmer.
Kilmer has battled throat cancer for several years that has rendered him largely unable to speak. Top Gun: Maverick chose to integrate him and his medical condition into the story line. The face to face scene between Cruise and Kilmer is incredibly moving. It transcends merely actors playing roles, and is so powerfully human. I’m so glad they were able to include Kilmer in the film.
Tone and Direction
Tom Cruise has had sustained success in action movies because he has a great feel for what audiences want and need. He gives it to them. No agendas, no filters, just great action. Top Gun: Maverick is a testament to that skill. It’s everything you want, and nothing you don’t.
The direction from Joseph Kosinski beautifully weaves the intricate shots of outside terrain, pilot reactions, stunt shots, and instrument/radar panels. It’s complex work that requires a precise eye and great timing to give the audience the look they need at exactly the right moment. I’ve been a huge fan of Kosinski since he debuted as a director with Tron: Legacy (another successful long-awaited sequel).
The not so good
Top Gun: Maverick is an excellent film, but not a perfect one. Here are some things that left something to be desired.
Missing Backstory Context
The film does a decent job of filling you in on the Maverick’s journey, it’s rather lacking when it comes to his two key r
elationships.
elationships.
When Maverick arrives back at Top Gun he runs into Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). Through the first scenes ofdialogue between the two, you gather there has been an on again, off again relationship. I would love to have been given a little more about their background. A little bit of dialogue on their history would have gone a long way toward toward my investment in their relationship.
The bigger problem for me though is the back story between Maverick and Rooster. We know early on that Rooster is Goose’s son. We find out early on that there is major tension between the two. What’s lacking is an understanding of their relationship in the intervening years. Did Maverick spend much time with Rooster as a kid? Were they close at one point? Did Rooster hate his guts the entire time? We just don’t know. We get a couple lines near the end of the movie about Maverick wanting to be a father figure to him, but this relationship wasn’t explored as much as it could have been.
It was a strange decision to me to make the tension between Rooster and Maverick be about “pulling his papers from the academy.” This is an incident the audience doesn’t see, and barely understands. The audience would have been expecting Rooster to have issues with Maverick related to the death of his father. That storyline wouldn’t have left the audience with the feeling that there’s a part of the story they don’t know.
These backstory holes makes you feel as though you were reading a book and accidentally skipped a couple of chapters.
Nameless, Faceless Enemy
Who was the enemy is this movie? Your guess is as good as mine. We receive zero, and I mean zero clues, as to who the enemy is in the primary mission this film is targeting. No clue. I’m sure this was done for a variety of reasons. Possibly to keep the audience’s focus on the characters and not on who they were fighting. As a result we only know the enemy are bad and want nuclear reactors.
Also, how does this unnamed enemy possess superior fighter jets to the US Navy and then also antiquated F-14s?
Conclusion
Ultimately, Top Gun: Maverick succeeds where most other sequels fail. It delivers an interesting original story that used the first film for context but doesn’t get lazy with nostalgia. It provides all the aerial stunts you could want to keep you excited and engaged. Despite some backstory challenges, it provides meaningful character development and genuine, real emotion.
Top Gun: Maverick is an excellent movie that will be enjoyed by multiple generations and is sure to be in the running for best summer blockbuster.
