There is a moment between the previews and the opening credits of Top Gun: Maverick where Tom Cruise appears as himself, seated in a director’s chair, and welcomes the audience to the film. This is not the first time a film’s lead actor has welcomed an audience and thanked them for coming since the Coronavirus Pandemic began in March 2020. John Krasinski famously did this in the spring of 2021 before the much-delayed A Quiet Place Part II, arguably the biggest and most anticipated movie (with all due respect to Tenet) that made its return to a wide-release audience.
With audience numbers dwindling, whether it be because of a continued hesitancy/fear of being in enclosed spaces due to the pandemic, the vast number of streaming services and other at-home entertainment options competing with theaters, giant-sized home theaters with surround sound making the home watching experience comparable if not better, or any number of different reasons, Hollywood has been employing a whole host of new options bring filmgoers back. The film’s star, Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July, Mission Impossible: Fallout), welcomes us, thanks us, and talks about all the great people involved in bringing this movie to life. Most importantly, he says that the cast and crew made this movie for us, the fans. I agree. I don’t know if I’ve seen a film before that was made for fans as much as this one. Top Gun Maverick was a crowd-pleaser on every level.
I once read that the most number of years between an original movie and its first sequel (with the same lead character) was the 25 years between The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986). Though it hasn’t been mentioned, the 36 years between Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick fits the criteria and would now be the clubhouse leader. Somewhat ironically, Cruise co-starred beside Paul Newman in The Color of Money.
Director Joseph Kosinski (Only the Brave, Oblivion) doesn’t miss a beat from Top Gun director, the deceased Tony Scott. The two films have the same ebb and flow. While most of this is attributed to the endearing Maverick (Cruise) character, the entire movie was derived from similarities and parallels to the first movie that allowed for nostalgia.
In this one, Captain Pete Mitchell (Maverick) receives a notification to return to Top Gun, the flight school that trained him in the original. He is tasked with preparing a group of a dozen young pilots, six of whom he will hand-pick for a mission to destroy a uranium facility in an unnamed overseas country. One of the pilots in the group is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller – Thank You for Your Service, Whiplash). Rooster is the son of Goose (Anthony Edwards), who was killed during a flight exercise in the original movie. Maverick had previously pulled his application from the Naval Academy when he had first applied as a promise to Rooster’s mother before she passed away. Though it set his career back for years, Rooster completed his training and followed his father’s footsteps to Top Gun. There is an underlying tension between Maverick and Rooster from the start, as Rooster was never explained why Maverick pulled his papers. It is similar to the rocky relationship between Maverick and Ice Man in the original movie, though that one was more peer-to-peer than this one. Nevertheless, the two must work together to prepare for and complete this mission.
The action sequences and overall filming of Top Gun Maverick are top-notch. As exhilarating as the aerial fight scenes were in the original, with groundbreaking technology, the ones 36 years later are better than imagined. Couple that with impressive sound editing and a score that combines tracks from the original, as they were initially mixed, along with edgier variations. There will likely be an Oscar nomination and a possible win for Best Sound (Top Gun won this Academy Award in 1986) as well as one for the original song “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga, which may end up being as memorable as Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.”
It wouldn’t hurt to rewatch Top Gun before seeing Top Gun: Maverick unless you’re like me and have the original memorized. While it’s not imperative to have a recent viewing of the original, nor is it necessary to have seen it at all, watching it serves several purposes. It will re-familiarize you with Maverick (Cruise), Ice Man (Val Kilmer – The Doors, Heat), Goose (Anthony Edwards – NBC’s ER, Zodiac), and other memorable characters, as well as the storyline and action sequences of a film that was years ahead of its time, in terms of action production design, sound editing, sound mixing. As importantly, it will get your juices flowing as you head to the theater for the masterpiece you are about to experience. In no uncertain terms, this is the first movie of the decade that needs to be experienced in the theater. See it on the biggest screen possible. My biggest regret was not watching it in IMAX, especially after seeing another movie on such a large screen two weeks later. The bigger the screen, the better for Top Gun: Maverick.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9.5/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
96.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- Top Gun
- Stealth
- Thank You For Your Service
- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
- Days of Thunder