Believe the hype. Top Gun: Maverick is everything you could possibly want out of an epic summer blockbuster. It’s full of spectacular heart-stopping aerial sequences, a plot that won’t strain your brain, romance, humor, and heart. There’s even a wild boat ride tossed in, just for the hell of it.
Boil the plot down to its basics and it’s relatively simple. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) lives to fly but has never been promoted above captain because of his well-deserved reputation as, well, a maverick. He’s still in the U.S. Navy and working as a test pilot (his choice) when he’s pulled back into the world of Top Gun pilots at the request of an old friend.
Maverick returns to his old stomping grounds but this time as the teacher, rather than the brash, cocky student. His task: take a group of elite Top Gun pilots and train them for a nearly impossible mission.
That’s the plot in a nutshell. However, watching how Top Gun: Maverick goes from the nostalgic beat of Cruise whipping the tarp off his beloved motorcycle – the one he cruised around San Diego on in the 1986 film – to the absolutely breathtaking, stomach-churning, white-knuckle ride that is the film’s climax turns out to be one of the most satisfying experiences in recent cinematic history.
Jennifer Connelly subs in for Kelly McGillis as Cruise’s love interest in the sequel, playing the owner of a bar who’s had an on-again-off-again relationship with the test pilot over the years. It’s easy to buy Connelly and Cruise as a couple, though the chemistry is more simmer than sizzle.
The young Top Gun pilots recruited for what’s basically a suicide mission include Rooster (Miles Teller), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Hangman (Glen Powell), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez), Payback (Jay Ellis), Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis), and the awkward introvert who goes by the flashy call sign Bob (Lewis Pullman, son of Bill Pullman). And while we get to know each of them a little (mostly superficially), it’s the relationship between Maverick and Rooster that’s the heart and soul of Top Gun: Maverick.
Rooster’s the son of Maverick’s friend and wingman, Goose, played by Anthony Edwards in the ’86 film. Goose was killed in an accident that Maverick still feels responsible for three decades later, and the adversarial relationship between Maverick and Rooster is the result of Maverick’s unwelcome interference in Rooster’s career. Rooster’s resentment, and his belief that Maverick was in part responsible for his father’s death, lends itself to some genuinely heavy emotional moments. Their conflict is what gives Top Gun: Maverick a legitimate reason to exist, 35 years after the original film flew into theaters.
Yet as thrilling as the aerial sequences are, not even the most impressive flying scene can match the sheer joy of seeing Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Val Kilmer’s Iceman reunite on screen. Their shared scene is five or so minutes of pure bliss for movie fans. Kilmer’s battle with throat cancer is effectively worked into the script, and Cruise solidifies his place as one of the best actors of his generation working opposite Kilmer in his short but incredibly sweet return to the big screen.
Tom Cruise was adamant that Top Gun: Maverick premiere in theaters rather than via a premium channel, streaming service, or On-Demand. Cruise was also determined to include Val Kilmer in the Top Gun sequel. He was right on both counts, as Top Gun: Maverick absolutely deserves to be seen on the largest screen possible. And without Kilmer’s return, the 2022 sequel may not have had quite the same emotional impact.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion, Tron: Legacy), the long-awaited Top Gun sequel is a better film and even more entertaining than the original Top Gun. It’s fast-paced, the actors are all fantastic, and everything about the production is top-notch. The most surprising part might be just how emotionally invested the audience is compelled to become while rooting for Tom Cruise and his gaggle of pilots to take down an unnamed enemy.
Tom Cruise has never over the course of his 40-year career phoned in a performance. Audiences know what to expect from a Tom Cruise action film and Top Gun: Maverick lives up to all expectations. It’s one of the best action films of his career and, given his impressive filmography, that’s really saying something.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and sequences of intense action
Running Time: 2 hours 11 minutes
Release Date: May 27, 2022
Studio: Paramount Pictures
