Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick
Starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell
Directed by Joseph Kosinski

The 1980s was, in my opinion, the epitome of cinema, as it gave us indelible, unforgettable films like "Airplane," "Back to the Future," "Star Wars Episode V," "Ghostbusters," "Mad Max," "A Nightmare On Elm Street" - the list goes on and on. Every genre was well-represented in the decade, and one of those crowning achievements was the Tony Scott-directed 1986 actioneer "Top Gun," a movie that further cemented Tom Cruise as one of Hollywood's most talented actors. As the decades went by, word of a possible sequel was tossed around, but nothing was ever cemented - and then sadly in 2012 Tony Scott committed suicide, and it seemed that any hope of Cruise's "Maverick" coming back to the big screen died with him. Yet Scott's dream didn't die, and the very long gestating idea of a "Top Gun" sequel finally came to fruition in 2022 - a full thirty-six years after the original - and there was a lot of worries that, much like other long-gestating sequels, it would fall incredibly flat. Quite the opposite, not only has "Top Gun: Maverick" been Tom Cruise's biggest opening night successes ever, it soared high and above all expectations and became a very worthy sequel to a beloved classic - and some people even say it exceeds it.

Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) constantly teeters on the line when it comes to the Navy higher brass, given chances time and again due to being close friends with Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer), who gives him one final assignment: train a bunch of new Top Gun recruits as they're tasked with bombing an uranium enrichment facility that's nearly impossibly guarded by surface-to-air missiles and an unforgiving landscape. Since it seems impossible, "Maverick" is the right man for the job - because he's used to overcoming impossible odds. Maverick is hesitant at first though because one of the recruits is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the now-adult son of Maverick's friend Goose who died by an accident that Maverick still feels responsible for - and Rooster does as well. Maverick also reunites with bar owner Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), and the two start a relationship as he tries to train a new line of Top Gun recruits to perform multiple miracles: fly under the radar undetected, avoid the surface-to-air missiles, blow up the plant, fly up the mountainside, and make it home alive.

"Maverick" had a lot of hurdles to jump to just make it a passable film: it had to remind people of the original film but not in a way that seemed self-serving, it had to pass the stigma of bringing a long-ago franchise starter back from the dead, and it had to provide enough thrills and chills to make audiences stand up and cheer - and by golly did it not just meet those expectations but blew them into the stratosphere. It's a pure gem of a movie, a perfect blend of nostalgia, action, drama, romance, humor, heart, and some of the most death-defying stunts ever put on screen - a mixture that only happens once in a blue moon.

The nostalgia is hot and heavy, with the opening sequence being shot with the rocking sound of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" - a song that's synonymous with the original film - and only goes up from there. There's several flashbacks of the previous film and how it shapes Maverick's journey forward, but it doesn't do it in a way to just point out the past, but is necessary for driving the story forward.

The drama occurs in the film when Maverick has to train a bunch of new recruits to perform a seemingly impossible task, and not just for him finding the faith in these people, but them finding faith in themselves as well. As is often mentioned in the film, it's not the plane, but it's the pilot. Of course, when you get a group of recruits who all believe they're the best ever going up against a living legend, egos will be stretched and tested, and you feel the tension between the recruits and Maverick - but most notably you sense the tension between Maverick and one recruit in particular. Miles Teller plays an older Rooster, who's father was Maverick's best friend and who died when his ejection seat didn't deploy right - something Maverick blames himself for to this day. You sense the decades of worry and doubt in Maverick's mannerisms despite his overly cocky attitude, and you also sense the soft spot he has for Rooster as a surrogate father - and the utter hatred and vitriol Rooster has for Maverick. Teller plays this off to a T, where you fully believe the performance and fully believe that these aren't two characters who have beef, but the actors as well (note: they really don't, but they perform so well it feels that way).

The romance comes in a surprising way in the form of Jennifer Connelly's Penny, who replaces Maverick's former love interest Charlie, formerly played by Kelly McGillis (no offense to McGillis, but looking at her today, you'd know why she wasn't brought back for this film). Connelly and Cruise are red hot as a couple on screen, and Connelly in particular pulls off this sultry, seductive side as well as a no-nonsense independent woman vibe in equal measure, and it's a relationship you fully get behind and believe in due to its seemingly organic beginning.

The humor and the heart of the film comes with Maverick's interactions with the new recruits, and again it's like you're watching live events happening on screen, as opposed to actors playing roles. The recruits play off one another as if they've been best friends for decades, and each of them have unique characteristics that make them stand out from the others. Teller's Rooster is the runt of the group, someone that is often regarded as not ready for real combat, as he tries his hardest to prove them wrong. Glen Powell's Hangman is your typical egotistical jerk who thinks he's the best of the best, and has no problems in shouting it from the rooftops, but there's also a deeper side to him that comes to the surface. Monica Barbaro's Phoenix is a no-nonsense pilot who doesn't use her feminism to make herself to be a victim, but uses her raw talent to prove that she's one of the best. The comradere between these recruits is strong and binding, and probably has to do with their rigorous training they had to go through together in real life.

That training is the driving force of "Maverick," and what makes it so enthralling and encapsulating: all the aerial battles happened in reality, and not behind a cheap CGI green screen. The phrase "they don't make movies like this anymore" firmly applies to "Maverick," as the stunts seen on screen are actually them performing in real-life F/A-18Es, training that the actors had to go through for months in order to perfect. Tom Cruise is best known for doing his own stunts, but this takes it to an entirely new level: it's pulse-pounding, heart stopping action that you just don't see anymore - but you should.

The intense action is shot perfectly with editor Eddie Hamilton, who blends the far-away plane fights with up-close-and-personal cockpit scenes that make you feel like you're right there with them - through all their harrowing adventures. It's not hyperbole to say that you might experience motion sickness due to the intense scenes, and that only adds to the exceptional nature of the film: no CGI green screen will have you feeling those same feelings, no matter how hard they try.

The real heart of the film comes with a tear-jerking reunion between Cruise's Maverick and Val Kilmer's Iceman, which is all the more poignant due to Kilmer's real-life disease that's brought into the film. In 2014 Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent a tracheotomy, resulting in irreparable vocal damage. Director Joseph Kosinski found a way to remedy this so Kilmer could appear in the film, and if you weren't moved by their scene together, you should check your pulse.

The first "Top Gun" asked the question: "do you feel the need? The need for SPEED?" and "Maverick" poses its own existentialist thought: "it's time to let go." For Maverick, it's time to let go of his past guilt and face the future, and for the recruits it's time to let go of their egos and work together as a unit in order to be successful. For the audiences, it's time to let go of preconceived notions of long-gestating franchises and believe that they can actually be as good -or exceed - their predecessors. "Top Gun: Maverick" taught us that.

The Score: A+