Director: Joseph Kosinski
Screenwriters: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christoper McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Val Kilmer
After serving as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returns to Top Gun with a new mission – to train a group of elite fighter pilots to take out a uranium plant. As Maverick works to prepare the pilots for the operation (where the odds of dying are stacked higher than the odds of success), he finds himself simultaneously grappling with the events of his past and the uncertainty of his place in the future.
Top Gun: Maverick strays about as far from its predecessor as its title does. More than 30 years after the events of Top Gun, Maverick is still doing what Maverick does best, pushing boundaries, frustrating superiors, and testing the limits of both aircraft and himself. After taking things too far in a super-sonic flight test (because of course, he didn’t get his call sign for nothing), Maverick is sent back to Top Gun – only this time as the master instead of the student.
Familiarity swoops in from the get go – the opening scene is lifted shot from shot from the original – sepia toned heat hazes that clearly say hey, we’re back. The beats of the plot all track with the Top Gun blueprints – with Maverick back at the academy, early on we meet a new group of cocky pilots, watch everyone trade barbs during training exercises, and witness numerous aerial dog fights that get progressively more risky as time goes on. There are bar scenes, a flash-back inducing sing-along, even a spot of beach sport, all leading up to the big end-game will-they-won’t-they die operation.
Though Top Gun: Maverick might be using the same core engine as the original, director Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion) and screenwriters Ehren Kruger (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle) and Christoper McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible – Fallout ) have added some upgrades. Where Top Gun was less clear-cut in its direction, here the stakes are higher, the plot is tighter, and the objective is clearly defined. Feeling much akin to one of McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible scripts, the spy-like mission to take out a uranium-enrichment plant, coupled with the (very) oft-reiterated odds of survival, means there’s a sense of impending doom hanging over everything – and it simply tops up the thrill level. The plot isn’t the only thing to have been further developed either, Maverick has grown too; while he may still subscribe to the ‘don’t think, just do’ philosophy of flying, this Maverick isn’t all impulse, no control. Weathered by the events of his past, he’s a little wiser, a little more learned – though he still retains his signature swagger.
Fresh but still quintessentially Top Gun in everything from looks to action to heart, the story feels like a natural progression of the original. Tension comes from Maverick’s relationship with Goose’s son Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw, who has grown up to follow in his father’s footsteps. While Rooster strives to take part in the up-and-coming likely-to-induce-death mission, Maverick wrestles with his guilt over his role in Goose’s untimely demise and the responsibility he feels for keeping Rooster alive. That’s not the only thing Maverick has weighing on his shoulders – thanks to advances in technology allowing planes to be flown remotely, three decades on, Maverick is no longer fighting to make a name for himself as an elite fighter pilot, he’s fighting to remain relevant in a world where his role is verging on obsolete.
There are nostalgia kicks right the way through – touching but not too heavy – Rooster’s sense of dress being one of the biggest. Iceman (Val Kilmer) also returns in a short but heartfelt scene between the two former rivals. The film isn’t breaking glass ceilings for female representation; while the group does include one kick-ass female pilot, on the whole, the females in the film – including Maverick’s love interest Penny (Jennifer Connelly) and her daughter – are minor side characters at most. This is Maverick’s show and everyone else is just appearing in it.
Much of the thrill comes from the flight sequences, which are fiercer, faster, and more extreme than before. 30+ years in tech advancement helps, but it can’t be denied that a large part of their flash comes from the fact that the scenes are as real as they can be; Cruise and his fellow actors actually sit in the aircraft during filming, with cameras mounted in-cockpit to capture the action. Given the events of the original film, with every breakneck flight (of which there are many) comes the underlying question of ‘are they going to land safely or are they going to go too far,’ making for an exhilarating, edge-of-the-seat ride that keeps the blood pumping and the eyes glued to the screen.
For a film that didn’t necessarily need a sequel, the sequel has proved its worth. Top Gun: Maverick feels like a natural evolution of the story that made its way into the hearts of audiences all those years ago. It’s everything a follow-up should be, familiar but new and exciting at the same time, sharper and more-electrifying; the film soars to new heights while remaining faithful to its roots.
