Top Gun: Maverick

Directed by Joseph Kosinski is the sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” is still being a maverick, but now as a test pilot, pushing the limits of new aircraft and the patience of senior officers. When Admiral Cain (Ed Harris) arrives rather than closing down the test, he is there to return Maverick to Top Gun at the request of his old wingman “Iceman” (Val Kilmer). To train an elite team of recruits for an almost impossible mission. It is there he comes face to face with his memories and regrets, including the son of “Goose”, “Rooster” (Miles Teller), lost love Penny (Jennifer Connelly) and a determination to do right in the face of bureaucracy, especially Jon Hamm’s Admiral Simpson. Can Maverick pull the team of talented Top Gun pilots into shape and get them set for this toughest of missions in three weeks?

I have to admit I was never a particular fan of Top Gun. A film of its time, like Rocky with fighter jets. To be honest 36 years later not much has changed.

That’s not to say this is a bad film, there is a lot it gets right. A wonderful first 5 minutes brilliantly invokes the original. The air action is breathtaking as you feel all of the tension of the cockpit. And of course, Cruise delivers his signature character pushing back at authority, with a quick wit and engaging smile. There is also a touching scene with Kilmer, mirroring the actors’ real-life health challenges.

However, as with the original, it has its problems. The story is paper-thin and predictable and while the fantastic flight sequences keep you engaged, It’s pedestrian at times and develops little of interest beyond Maverick’s tale and not all of that held my attention. As someone ambivalent toward the original I didn’t have the nostalgic fondness toward it to make up for the lack of story.

For fans of Top Gun, Maverick brilliantly invokes the original and fans will enjoy that. But for those less invested in it, apart from some thrilling airborne action, it offers little else.