In the age of sequels from decades past, it’s hard to know what’ll be brought back next. Honestly, a “Top Gun” sequel is one of the more sensible sequels Hollywood has made recently. It’s a simple premise; throw in some additional characters and old school cameos and you’ve got a ready-made blockbuster. But that’s not how “Top Gun: Maverick” plays things, because that’s not how you do a sequel when you’ve got Tom Cruise (“Mission Impossible: Fallout,” “Jerry Maguire”) involved.
Since the events of the original film, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, played by Cruise, has been living out his military test pilot life in relative solitude. But, he’s called back by Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson, played by Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” “Baby Driver”), and Rear Admiral Solomon “Warlock” Bates, played by Charles Parnell (“The Last Ship,” “The Venture Bros.”), to instruct a group of former Top Gun graduates for an incredibly dangerous mission, while also balancing running into an old flame, Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly (“Labyrinth,” “Requiem for a Dream”).
While it seems like this new adventure will likely tread a lot of familiar ground as the original, it quickly becomes apparent that things are hardly as simple as that. While the film does open with “Danger Zone” and Maverick has clearly not given up his reckless, authority questioning attitude, there’s one thing “Maverick” has that the original film sorely lacked: genuine emotion.
The sense of comradery and friendship between the new pilots is palpable. “Hangman”, played by Glen Powell (“Set It Up,” “Everybody Wants Some!!”), and “Rooster”, played by Miles Teller (“Whiplash,” “War Dogs”) have fantastic chemistry. Their rivalry is taut and Hangman’s shit eating grin staring down at Rooster’s thick mustache is a constant highlight. “Bob”, played by Lewis Pullman (“Catch-22 (2019),” “Bad Times at the El Royale”), and “Phoenix”, played by Monica Barbaro (“UnREAL,” “Chicago Justice”) have a wonderful friendship, and the entire team oozes charism and wonderful chemistry. Even a character that could’ve been one-note and forgettable, Maverick’s friend Chief Warrant Officer “Hondo”, played by Bashir Salahuddin (“GLOW,” “Cyrano (2021)”), is elevated by the sheer amount of charm pouring out of Salahuddin’s performance.
Director Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion,” “Tron: Legacy”) and writers Ehren Kruger (“Dumbo (2019),” “Ghost in the Shell (2017)”), Eric Warren Singer (“American Hustle,” “Only the Brave”), Christopher McQuarrie (“Mission Impossible: Fallout,” “Edge of Tomorrow”), Peter Craig (“The Town,” “Bad Boys for Life”), and Justine Marks (“The Jungle Book (2016),” “Counterpart”) make one thing very evident from the start: it doesn’t matter how much action is on screen or how good it looks, if there isn’t human emotion behind it all, then the audience isn’t going to care. From Maverick’s reckless opening test flight all the way to the third act spectacle, there’s a big beating heart pumping pure emotion through every moment of “Maverick.”
There’s the obvious connection between Maverick and Rooster, of course; Rooster is the son of Maverick’s deceased wingman and best friend Goose. However, there’s more here than just that. Maverick is an old dog trying to learn new tricks while still being valued for some of the old ones. It’s a double-edged sword of a character: they don’t make pilots like him anymore, so the Navy both needs to keep him around for those skills but also impart new ones on him for the new age.
It's not hard to draw parallels between Maverick’s journey here and Cruise’s journey as an action star. Some have called him the last true movie star and seeing how much he throws himself into the roles, it’s hard to disagree. “Maverick” is a clear showpiece for the kind of action star Cruise is, but also for the kind of dramatic actor we often forget he is as well. Again, the film is packed so tightly with genuine emotion, and Cruise matches all of that with a superb performance. It could be easy to label this a “guy cry” movie along the likes of “Fast 6” or “Marley and Me”, but the film easily deserves far more credit than that distinction suggests.
For all of the bombast and sweaty, glistening young men of the original film, its surprising how respectful of a film “Maverick” ends up being. The way it incorporates Val Kilmer’s (“Heat,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”) return as “Iceman” is an incredibly heavy, emotional moment that also feels like a reverent tribute to Kilmer himself. Even Connely’s role, one that could’ve easily been boiled down to a pretty face for Cruise to smile at and kiss, has a lot of emotion and care behind it, building yet another character who’s easy to care about and get invested in.
Outside of the tear-jerking though, when it comes time to fly, the film positively electrifies. Kosinski is no stranger to big budget action flicks, but its hard to compare “Maverick” to anything else out there. The scale and wizardry on display for the aerial sequences is mind boggling, with cinematographer Claudio Miranda (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Life of Pi”) composing shots that border on works of art. It’s the kind of film that deserves the biggest screen achievable, and in an age of cheap green screen and LED backdrops, it offers a level of realism that’s unmatched and jaw dropping. As has been stated in numerous interviews and behind the scenes material, yes, the actors are flying the planes and hitting those G-forces. And wow does it make a world of difference.
However, there are a few things that “Maverick” stumbles with, but not much. It does fall prey to the “multiple ending” syndrome of most recent action films where, just when it seems like things are wrapping up, it pulls another twenty minutes of film out of thin air. Also, much has been made of the film’s lack of a specific enemy target, and while it’s a smart move from Paramount to avoid irking any particular countries in the international market, it also feels a bit cheap in that regard as well.
“Top Gun: Maverick” easily flies past the original film. It’s simply no contest. But even without the original to compare to, this is a film of fantastic craftsmanship and effort on nearly every level. The emotion matches the action which matches the beauty of the cinematography which matches the skill of the performances. Even for those who dislike the original film, its virtually impossible not to recommend this fantastic flight into the clouds of cinematic nirvana. 4.5/5
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