It might be the reincarnation of a 36-year-old franchise, but it’s no mere re-tread. In fact, it’s a triumph.
Premise
A rogue state’s new uranium enrichment plant needs taking out, and aging US Navy aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is brought in by Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer) to train the best of the best for the precarious mission.
To a doubting squadron, Maverick soon shows he still has what it takes and that he is the best of the best of the best. In the meantime, a surprising showdown with callsign “Rooster” beckons.
Opinion
I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t particularly looking forward to watching Top Gun: Maverick. The original Top Gun was such a defining cinematic moment of the 1980s that it was hard for me to see how its sequel could surpass it. Or indeed how the film could enroll a new audience of youngsters to its fanbase. Surely it could only cheapen the Top Gun brand?
But, actually, I really enjoyed it. And, if the box office predictions of a $200 million worldwide opening four-day take were anything to go by, so do a large number of others.
The film gives a substantial nod to the original without succumbing to copycat or re-tread status. Yes, there are motorbike chases with fast jets. Yes, Tom Cruise buzzes the carrier tower. Yes, there are sing-songs in the bar and games of semi-naked beach volleyball. But these moments are handled so deftly that they don’t over-sentimentalise or detract from the major premise of the feature – that Tom Cruise is now the teacher rather than the taught.
More, that Cruise must confront his advancing years and that one day the fighter pilot might be replaced by drone technology.
The movie has emotional heft, too, in the form of a compelling subplot between Cruise and a warring “Rooster” (Miles Teller), for reasons which I won’t spoil. Actually, the Rooster subplot is quite predictable, but it is a testament to the strength of the script and Joseph Kosinski’s deft direction, that it never seems trite.
Another powerful moment is when Cruise confronts Kilmer (who has had throat cancer in real life and in the film) and Kilmer, putting old animosities aside, inspires Cruise to greater things through dialogue typed out on a computer screen.
To my mind, the star of the show, however, is the ariel cinematography, which from the opening moments of the film is simply breath-taking, and is so well-paced it never becomes monotonous or stale. High kudos to Kosinski and the ariel photography team for that.
In part a homage to one of the most successful films of the 1980s, in part a fresh take on an old subject, Top Gun: Maverick doesn’t disappoint.
It’s a triumphant must-see, especially if (like me!) you’re old enough to have seen the original in its first turnaround in the cinema. For its sheer defiance of age and avoidance of the potential trap of succumbing to over-sentimentality, it gets five stars from me.
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