Review: Top Gun: Maverick


Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is sent back to Top Gun to train the most elite pilots in the U.S for a mission they may not come back from. This includes the late Goose's son, Bradley "Rooster" (Miles Teller) whom Pete screwed over in the name of protecting him years before. Maverick hasn't grown out of his old ways, and now that might be catching up with him.

I'm of the opinion that the original Top Gun was just ~fine.~ It's a perfectly watchable movie but it's never one I felt strongly about one way or another. When the trailers for Maverick initially premiered, I thought it was just a Cruise vanity project. And don't get me wrong, it absolutely is but it's a fun as hell popcorn flick as well.

This is what a "popcorn" movie is supposed to be. A lot of people tend to turn their nose up at tentpoles but they absolutely have a place in cinema. Maverick is so much more fun than the original ever was for me. There's still plenty of call backs to the original for its fans to feel nostalgic about, but the action is where we see a huge upgrade. It starts thrilling and ends thrilling. The third act itself is pretty extraordinary, not stopping where you think it would.

I really liked the cast here. I don't care for Cruise as an actor but it's hard to deny he's really good in action movies. He's become a character in itself. Jennifer Connelly (who is so beautiful I can hardly stand it) is a great girlfriend for Maverick. Her life doesn't revolve around him, which I loved. Teller, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Glen Powell, Jay Ellis and Danny Ramirez were all perfectly cast as pilots Maverick has to train. For me, this cast was fare more interesting than the original. Powell also has the most glorious punchable face. Perfect casting.

So is it for you? I'm glad I saw this on the big screen after originally deeming it a DVD watch. If you like action and fun, see it on the biggest screen with the loudest sound system possible.

Grade: A-

Comments

  1. It's one of the few 2022 movies I've seen twice in the theater. I really had a good time with it. Lots of nostalgia but also some really good character progression for Maverick. And it's still killing it at the box office!

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    1. I love that audiences are responding to this well! The box office certainly surprised me. I wasn't expecting it to crack a billion for sure. My theater was full.

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  2. I'm going to wait for it on streaming as I have other films I do want to see. I hope to have time to see this mainly for Val Kilmer.

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    1. This did make me more interested in that Val doc that's on Prime. I'll probably check that out now

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  3. No Kelly McGillis? Did I get her name right? Either she didn't want to do the film or the execs thought she was too fat and old for her reprisal. I have no real desire to see this or the original but Connelly is always so beautiful and a good actress. Fun to see her and Cruise here when they were so young in Legend

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    1. I 100% think they didn't ask her back because she didn't age the same way cruise did. They don't even mention her.

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    2. What a F^£%# insult and shame

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    3. In a way, I get why she's not there. Maverick is definitely not someone who settles down, but a mention might have at least done the trick.

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  4. Great blog you got going on here :)

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