TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)
Updated: Dec 10, 2022
An Above-Average Sequel to an 80s Classic
Grade: B+
Top Gun: Maverick is not a movie that should work. A follow-up to the 1986 classic Top Gun, it is the latest in a long line of sequels that premiere decades after their predecessors. In a cynical sense, these movies exist largely to exploit their target audience's nostalgic love for the original. To that end, movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) fill themselves with references and callbacks to their classic counterparts, and sometimes even recycle the same plot. Unfortunately, in doing so, they distract from their own stories and sacrifice their uniqueness. Top Gun: Maverick does have callbacks. It also has a predictable plot and a love interest that is not all that interesting. But above all, it has great performances, spectacular dogfights, and compelling drama that ultimately makes it worth watching.
Tom Cruise is back as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, alumnus and former instructor of the U.S. Navy's Top Gun flight academy. In the thirty-plus years since proving his worth, he has fought in several wars and now serves as a test pilot for new and more advanced aircraft. After testing and crashing his latest plane, he is ordered by Admiral Cain (Ed Harris) to return to Top Gun and train a team of students for a dangerous mission. One of the students is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick's friend and wingman, Goose, who died while training with Maverick in the first movie. Still haunted by Goose's death, Maverick is met with resentment by Rooster and has a hard time teaching the students. But with the help of his ailing friend, Iceman (Val Kilmer), and his girlfriend Penny (Jennifer Connelly), he finds the strength to push past his anguish and self-doubt and even joins the students in their mission.
It should not be too hard for the aver viewer to guess where the plot of Maverick is going, since many stories have been told of a hero dealing with confidence issues. We can surmise that Maverick is going to successfully teach the students, mend his broken relationship with Rooster, and fly in the mission even though he was told he would only be teaching. And, as expected, there are many callbacks to the first movie. It has same exact opening, with the same background text giving way to more planes on an aircraft carrier taking off to Kenny Loggins'"Danger Zone." There is also a football game on the beach, which invites comparisons to the volleyball scene in the first movie.
Additionally, the love interest in Jennifer Connelly's Penny never quite comes across as necessary, despite her giving a good performance. Apparently, she and Maverick have a a complicated past, but it happened sometime between the two films. Whatever trouble they experienced never boils to the surface; they are always happy together. If it had been Kelly McGillis's character Charlie from the first movie, then it might have been more interesting. We could have learned how Charlie and Maverick fell out of love, and the story could have taken their relationship in a new and compelling direction. As is, Penny is not a bad character, but she does little for the plot aside from helping Maverick find confidence in himself.
Despite these flaws, there are still many things in Top Gun: Maverick that help justify its existence. For starters, it is extremely well-made, from the visually impressive test flight in the intro to the final mission. The scenes with Maverick flying alongside the students while teaching them are both riveting and slightly amusing, as the students react with frustration whenever he trounces them (which is often). When Maverick has trouble instructing them how to successfully perform the maneuvers needed to complete the mission, he decides the best way to teach them is by example in a scene that effectively demonstrates his renewed determination. This makes the climactic battle all the more spectacular as teacher and students swerve through a valley and flee missiles in a desperate bid to take out their target and survive. Through it all, Cruise perfectly portrays Maverick as an experienced man haunted by the past, yet still a daredevil at heart.
The most compelling arc in the story is the relationship between Maverick and Rooster. The young pilot resents Maverick not for his father's death (as one might suppose), but for blocking his application to the Naval Academy at the behest of Rooster's mother, who did not want him to fly. Maverick is tormented by the prospect of Rooster dying in combat or hating him forever. When Maverick ultimately chooses him to be his wingman, Rooster begins to respect him and ultimately saves Maverick when he goes down behind enemy lines. The concluding dogfight, spectacular though it is, takes a back seat to their growing friendship as Rooster gives Maverick support. Along with Cruise, Teller gives the best performance in the movie, guiding both his character and Maverick through an emotionally satisfying third act.
I remember being largely unimpressed by the first Top Gun, thinking the last dogfight was the most entertaining thing about it. I was similarly unenthused to learn that a sequel was on the way. Then I heard positive things about it and decided to give it a look. Having finally seen it, I can safely say that it is pretty good. It may not be very surprising, but it injects its formulaic plot with a crucial ingredient: characters you can care about. Everyone involved, from the director to the crew to the actors, clearly gave this movie their all, and the results speak for themselves. Top Gun: Maverick may not have needed to be made, but it's a good thing it was.
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Screenplay: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise (Maverick), Miles Teller (Rooster), Jennifer Connelly (Penny), John Hamm (Adm. Simpson), Glen Powell (Hangman), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Ed Harris (Adm. Cain), Val Kilmer (Iceman), Monica Barbaro (Phoenix), Charles Parnell (Warlock), Jay Ellis (Payback)
Rated: PG-13 (for sequences of intense action, and some strong language)
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