“I feel the need for speed,” was arguably the most iconic line from 1986’s Top Gun, spoken by both Maverick and Goose. The film won the Oscar for Best Original Song, “Take My Breath Away,” and was directed by the late-great Tony Scott, younger brother of Ridley Scott, who passed way in 2012. 36 years later, Paramount Pictures released the long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick on May 27th, 2022. This is my review:
For the last 36 years, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (once again played by Oscar-nominee Tom Cruise) has been working as U.S. Navy Test Pilot. When he learns that the Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain plans to shut down the “Darkstar” program because their plane can’t reach a Mach 10 speed, Maverick decides to take the plane up himself to reach that speed. What ensues leads to many different “reunions,” including a reconnection with one of his old flames, Penny Benjamin.
Very few sequels tend to be as good as or even better than their original predecessors. I would say that “Top Gun: Maverick,” is an exception. While the film’s plot is an emotional tribute to “Goose,” who died in the first film, the film itself is a very nice tribute to Tony Scott. Director Joseph Kosinski keeps Scott’s spirit alive.
In the theater where I viewed it, it opened with an introduction by Tom Cruise saying that “Top Gun: Maverick,” was made strictly for the fans. As the story unfolds, you can see what he means, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Although Cruise and Val Kilmer (reprising his role as “Iceman”) both return, without anyone else from the 1986 original, their appearances alone make it a faithful tribute. Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of the original, but I respected it. I am, however, a HUGE fan of its sequel because I wasn’t expecting it to be so emotionally moving. Honestly, it’s the best 2022 film I’ve seen so far!
Besides Cruise and Kilmer, the supporting cast includes Oscar-Nominee Ed Harris as Rear Admiral “Hammer” Cain, Oscar-Winner Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin and Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw. The film is once again produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original, and featured three credited screenplay writers, one of whom is Oscar-Winner Christopher McQuarrie (who won Best Original Screenplay for 1995’s The Usual Suspects), and has directed Cruise in most recent Mission Impossible movies: Rogue Nation (2015), Fallout (2018), and the upcoming Dead Reckoning Part’s I and II, both of which will respectively be released in 2023 and 2024.
All in all, “Top Gun: Maverick,” is a perfect movie for everyone, whether you’re a fan of the original or not. You might even become a fan of the original after seeing its sequel. The film ends with you feeling the need for even more speed.
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