Arriving 36 years after the original Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick could have easily been a massive misfire if it weren’t for the hard work of capable collaborators Tom Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski (whom Cruise previously worked with in Oblivion). However, the two of them have crafted a sequel that not only justifies its existence but is also noticeably better than the original in almost every way.
Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Michell (Tom Cruise) has been working as a test pilot, flying a top-secret prototype and pushing the limits of its top speed. He is soon called back to Top Gun as an instructor to train a group of recent graduates to undertake a dangerous combat mission at low altitudes over treacherous terrain. Trouble is, one of those graduates is Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s old flying mate, Goose, whose death Maverick still feels responsible for.
Top Gun was a cheesy, eighties thinly-disguised Air Force ad that transcended its commercial roots and became a cultural phenomenon. Top Gun: Maverick smartly builds on its legacy while improving on its more hokey aspects. The rampant jingoism is much more toned down in the sequel, and also gone is the homoerotic subtext (though probably to the disappointment of many).
What the sequel does best, is marrying emotions and grit with wonderfully shot aerial sequences.
The characters, which were almost paper-thin in the first movie, are more rounded out now, and also noticeably more diverse. The camaraderie between the new group of pilots is still a highlight, demonstrated by Rooster channeling his father while singing Great Balls of Fire at a bar. Cruise is on point as a more mature Maverick who is no less daring and cheeky than he was almost four decades ago. He continues to justify his reputation as the last true movie star, steering Top Gun: Maverick past the $1 billion mark at the box office, his largest box office haul in his career so far.
Miles Teller is also a great second lead, looking almost like the spitting image of Anthony Edwards (who played Goose in Top Gun), but he is also undoubtedly his own man, counting a little too much on getting a sure shot instead of going all-in like Maverick. He has a rivalry with Hangman (Glen Powell) that harkens back to the classic rivalry between Maverick and Iceman (Val Kilmer), who also makes an appearance during a touching scene with Maverick.
What’s gained the most attention for Top Gun: Maverick is the mind-blowing, authentic aerial sequences that were captured using actual F-18s.
The action scenes make a great case for why some movies still belong very much on the big screen and their sound mix deserves to be played on huge, thumping speakers, which is almost poetic when you consider that Cruise lobbied against the film being released on any streaming platform.
Top Gun: Maverick isn’t a perfect movie by any means, but it’s one of the best blockbusters to come out in a long time, easily on par with the nostalgia blast of December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. If you haven’t seen it yet, treat yourself and buy a ticket. Seeing Tom Cruise doing his thing on the big screen is worth the price of admission alone.