“Top Gun: Maverick” Review
A Movie Review by Victor DeBonis
“Top Gun: Maverick” is a great blockbuster that honors the preceding movie in spades but also displays fantastic action along with emotional scenes that establish thoughtful themes about moving forward in one’s path. For those who are curious, I love the original film from 1986. Late-great Tony Scott did a wonderful job directing it and bringing his cool, stylized vision to the screen. The chemistry between the actors was fantastic, and there was a legitimate brotherly connection amidst the pilots in the film. Action scenes were phenomenal, and they still hold up through the speed and interactions between everyone as they’re spinning and soaring through the clouds. And, of course, the soundtrack is excellent. To this day, I still play it at times when I’m running because a thunderous enthusiasm and delightful intensity rings through the songs on the album.
Tom Cruise returns as the ace pilot hero, Maverick, and his performance greatly helps this movie excel. Gone is much of the cockiness that came from his character over decades ago. Here, Cruise still contains much of the same confidence and courage from the role that sealed him as a new action star. He is both humorous when delivering certain lines but dead serious when he knows that his crew is dealing with huge stakes in the skies.
The difference between his character now as opposed to then is that, following specific events of the previous movie, Cruise is more cautious and not as over-the-top cocky as he was long ago. He knows better than anyone there what can happen when someone gets too reckless, and, without a single scene of showing him drunk or yelling, this actor perfectly wears the look of someone who struggles from guilt from past mistakes and knows that he has a serious responsibility towards guiding his crew in a way that will hopefully keep them from facing death.
Real talk: Cruise has always been an actor that I’ve often had complicated feelings towards. His ego and past actions could be obnoxious, especially in certain previous eras, and there are some movies that didn’t know how to use his presence effectively, such as “Days of Thunder” and “Mission Impossible 2.” Despite all of this, I recognize definite talent from him as well as a devotion to bringing something to his performance and not just being a bland movie star. His performances in movies, such as “Magnolia” “A Few Good Men” and “Collateral” helped make them great, partly from the honesty passion and subtlety that he brought to them. Cruise voices a similar sincerity with the maturity and reflection that he demonstrates in many scenes here, and, as a good sequel should often do, it shows the development that led the hero from a previous story to where he is now.
As far as the other actors go, Jon Hamm convincingly plays the unflinching commander that manages Cruise and keeps a close eye on him as he directs him to do the work as needed. He speaks with a bluntness that could wear on someone’s nerves but clearly expects professionalism and only wants the best for the crew that Cruise is teaching. Miles Teller steps into the role of Rooster, the son of Maverick’s deceased best buddy, Goose. He walks in his character’s shoes with completely conviction, and he is terrific at evoking the pained presence of someone who wants to do his duties to a superb level but still contains plenty of anger at Cruise for a past mistake. Between him and Cruise, there is an engaging and believable conflict of trying to determine how one can progress in the present when the sins from one’s previous times are still raw.
The other actors are great as well, but the film sadly doesn’t give the audience more time as one would like to find out what their lives are like beyond their time as pilots. It is a tough issue, since each pilot has a different type of personality that made me more eager to learn more about them. Jennifer Connelly is likable and smart, and she shares a believable chemistry with Cruise as a romantic interest. The two smile and have some nice conversations and funny moments together as a couple. Unfortunately, similar to most of the pilots, I was hoping for more scenes that allowed me to learn more about her life and who she was, but there weren’t more moments that tapped into that. I honestly remember a little more of the romance that Cruise’s character had with Charlotte Blackwood from the original movie, and that partly came from how scenes would linger a little longer between those two in that film to make their relationship even more rewarding to follow. This sequel does move at a steady pace without overstaying its welcome, yet I would argue that one or two more conversations with Cruise and Connelly in this film might’ve helped their bond with each other strengthen more in the eyes of the audience.
As one would expect, the flight scenes in this movie are amazing. The editing for these scenes is rapid-fire, but it’s also precise in all the right ways. Plenty of close-ups are filmed with these actors that show the exhilaration or intense stress on their faces along with the shots of these planes swooping through the giant, open sky. You feel as though you’re right there with these brave pilots in their cockpits, and it’s evident that these actors trained vigorously to truly do these scenes. Even in scenes when they’re testing planes, I was gritting my teeth from the sheer tension that was flowing through my veins. I saw this film on the IMAX screen, and it was definitely worth the money for the moments in the sky alone.
The film also excels in going through the details of what the pilots’ mission consists of and highlighting how much danger is involved. Joseph Kosinski directed this movie, and, similar to a previous film of his titled “Only the Brave” (an overlooked movie that others should definitely look into), it provides such moments to evoke a clear idea of what people who do a service, such as this, accomplish and how they might speak and plan out what they need to do as a team to succeed and survive, and my respect for the movie heightened further, as a result. Kosinski knows how to depict the sense of a team coming to grips with itself and voice both the honor of one’s duty and the hardship that can occasionally come from one’s devotion to it. This film only makes me more eager to see what his next project may be.
“Maverick” also does a nice job of paying homage to the original film with carefully chosen moments that show the emotional core and connections that made it as strong as it was. The movie isn’t annoyingly winking at the audience with these moments, either. It is illustrating the ties and events from what came before and is making it more understandable why characters act as they do and do what they do in this sequel. As mentioned before, “Maverick” deals with some meaningful themes. Those include forgiving one’s self for one’s past sins and mistakes and, also, attempting to move forward in present times not only for one’s self but for others, too.
As hinted at, there is a scene that directly involves Val Kilmer in this movie. I admittedly was nervous about this possibly happening because I’m a big fan of the actor, and I was aware of the tough health struggle that he has to had endure in recent years. Well, I am happy to say that all of my worries were for naught because this movie honors both Kilmer and his character and does so with equal parts of great respect and heart. The acting in this moment is fantastic all around, but I especially appreciate how it is respectful to Kilmer’s condition while also emphasizing the likable presence that this star always had and how his character and one of the bonds that helped the original movie (and this one) carry a real heart through all of the action.
While it may not surpass the original and could spend a little more time with certain characters and especially the romance, “Top Gun 2” is still an impressive sequel that makes me happy to be a fan of the original and, also, appreciate what this movie does for taking steps forward to show what the legacy of this film and characters mean in the longer run. The acting is fantastic with probably one of my new favorite performances from Cruise. Every flight scene carries plenty of weight and intensity and never loses it. On top of being a good action movie, it’s also a terrific movie about forgiveness and trying to make a better route ahead to find peace.
“Top Gun: Maverick” still fills me with the need for speed and adds more that makes it great, and that’s more than enough for me.
Grade: A-