Film

Top Gun: Maverick – no country for old pilots

Tom Cruise returns as Maverick to remind audiences that fighter jets are cool

Updated 1 year ago · Published on 27 May 2022 2:00PM

Top Gun: Maverick – no country for old pilots
Maverick leads a strike mission deep inside enemy territory in Top Gun: Maverick. – IMDB pic, May 27, 2022

by Haikal Fernandez

TOP Gun: Maverick soars into cinemas as the latest ‘legacyquel’ – a movie where an ageing movie star returns to an iconic character they first played decades ago, looks back fondly to the past while passing the baton to the next generation.

In this case, the nearly 60-year-old Tom Cruise reprises the role of Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, which he first brought to life in 1986’s Top Gun. Among many things, it was: the biggest movie of that year, an enduring cheesy relic of the 80s, the winner of the Oscar for Best Song (Berlin’s Take My Breath Away), and a very successful recruitment tool for the US Navy.

There are plenty of callbacks to the first film, in fact, the first five minutes or so feature the exact same opening text explaining what Top Gun is (a school for the best fighter pilots) and an extended montage of planes taking off, set to the iconic score and Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone, which goes to show that Top Gun: Maverick knows its audience.

All the references to the original are fairly predictable, but it never feels like a nostalgia overload. It comes close to that a couple of times, but Top Gun: Maverick is such a fun ride that it’s easy to let it slide.

Watching the movie in IMAX, the flight sequences are nothing short of extraordinary. In an era where the cinema is dominated by oftentimes artificial and weightless superhero fare, it’s something to see acrobatic flying sequences with real planes and real actors being pushed to their limits.

Yes, there are plenty of computer effects in Top Gun: Maverick, but it’s used smartly, along with precise editing that makes things clear and exciting when they need to be.

The plot of the movie is simple enough, with Maverick out of place in a Navy that seemingly doesn’t have a place for pilots like him. However, instead of getting kicked out, he’s offered one last assignment, a return to Top Gun where he has to train a squadron of hotshot pilots for a dangerous mission into hostile territory.

One of the pilots, Rooster (Miles Teller), happens to be the son of his co-pilot from the original film, Goose, who died in a training accident. Maverick still feels responsible after all these years, and the tension between them threatens the success of the mission.

The drama between them is well-acted and believable, though the end result is never in doubt.

There’s also competition with the other pilots, a (age-appropriate) romance subplot with a bar owner (Jennifer Connelly), a shirtless game of football on the beach, just to name a few references to the original. However, it doesn’t play as cheesy, at least compared to how it was in the 80s.

In general, the movie is pretty sincere and upfront, and it does get emotional at points, especially in a scene between former rivals Maverick and Iceman (Val Kilmer). Those unaware of Kilmer’s recent health woes might be left confused, but for fans of the first movie, the moment packs a punch.

Also like Top Gun, the bad guys are once again nameless and faceless, with the details of the conflict between the US and their country pretty vague. But that’s intentional because the movie isn’t interested in being political and instead uses the context as an excuse for beautiful and balletic fighter jet action.

Top Gun: Maverick is not a complex movie, nor is it unpredictable – but it doesn’t need to be either of those things. There’s just something comforting about a film that knows what it is, knows what its audience wants, and proceeds to deliver on that promise. – The Vibes, May 27, 2022

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