Top Gun: Maverick is as good as a thirty-six-years later sequel to an ‘80s classic could be. There were so many ways this could’ve gone south, but what’s amazing about the movie is how it honors the past while still pushing the story and characters forward. There have been a lot of so-called “legacy” sequels here lately that have been in such a hurry to pass the baton onto the new generation that they forget what made the baton special in the first place. What’s great about Top Gun: Maverick is that while Maverick (Tom Cruise) is now a flight instructor teaching the new crop of hot shot Navy pilots, he is very much still the heart of the film. Yes, the young cast all have their moments to shine, but Cruise commands the screen so fiercely that you just know he is gonna hold onto that proverbial baton as long as he can.
Yes, there are callbacks and/or updates to nearly all the beloved moments in the original. Only a few of them feel gratuitously shoehorned in there (like the beach football game that is reminiscent of the iconic beach volleyball game in the first movie), but then again, if they weren’t there, it wouldn’t feel like Top Gun. Everything you’d want to see in a Top Gun sequel is here. Tom Cruise acting cocky and insubordinate, awesome aerial photography and dogfights, and pitch perfect masculine soap opera theatrics/male bonding scenes. In fact, there is at least one scene that is genuinely moving. It occurs when Val Kilmer shows up for his cameo. If you’re a fan of Kilmer and are familiar with his recent battle with cancer, this scene will have an even bigger emotional impact. His interactions with Cruise are just wonderful as the script plays upon their rivalry and respect for one another.
It’s also aces in the action department. The opening test pilot scene is a lot of fun, and the finale, which owes as much to Star Wars as it does Top Gun, is a pure adrenaline rush. Top Gun: Maverick not only flies high right from the get-go, but it manages to soar higher than it has any right to. Not only that, but it also manages to stick the landing too.
I think I better stop the review here before I work in any more flying puns, but before I do, just know that Top Gun: Maverick is just as good, if not better than the original, which is about the highest praise I can bestow upon a movie.
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