The original Top Gun is one of those quintessential 1980s movies. It’s one of the many films of the decade that you could watch and get a good idea of what American culture was like at the time. It was so iconic, that the U.S. military used it for recruitment. Having watched it again to refresh my memory before seeing the sequel from 2022, I would also argue it’s not a good movie.

As beloved as the original Top Gun might be for a lot of people, there’s really not much to say about it. The glorifying shots of all the fighter jets are impressive, but there’s nothing I had remembered prior to watching it again other than the notorious shirtless volleyball scene that has a bunch of sweaty guys in aviator sunglasses playing volleyball on the beach to the Kenny Loggings song “Playing with the Boys.” The plot is essentially nothing other than how the hotshot pilot Maverick is great at what he does, but reckless and deserving of some humble pie. So with all this in mind, it’s surprising that Tom Cruise reprised his role as Maverick in a sequel that comes forty years later. It’s even more surprising that this sequel happened to be one of the biggest movies in 2022 and has earned as spot on the list of Best Picture nominees at the Academy Awards.

Pros

• Flight sequences are shot well and look incredible

• Action scenes are fun and exciting

• Has an actual story that pushes the plot along

Cons

• None of the side characters are very interesting

• A little too long

Plot & Thoughts

To Top Gun: Maverick’s credit, it addressed the main issue of the original film: there is actually a plot this time. Maverick (Tom Cruise) is a captain in the Navy Air Force, which is a rather low rank for someone who has been in the military as long as he has. For one reason or another, he’s never climbed the ranks and seems more content to be in the pilot seat rather than being a commanding officer. While doing some more death-defying flying, an order comes in from his old friend Iceman (Val Kilmer), who has become a high-ranking admiral, to have Maverick teach a set of young hotshots. It’s similar to what he experienced in the original movie as a student, however, the plot does not meander like the first film. There is a dangerous mission outlined right away that is incredibly difficult and needs to be completed within three weeks. Maverick will have to push them to their limits to ensure they can complete the mission and come home safely. Complicating matters is the fact that one of the pilots Maverick is teaching is the son of his deceased best friend Goose, Rooster.

The main strength of Top Gun: Maverick is the scenes that involve the fighter jets flying through the air, as you might expect. The way everything is shot is impressively captivating. The use of CGI is limited in these scenes and it makes a big difference in the tension. Seeing real planes doing death-defying maneuvers, with actors in planes as they spin through the air, looks amazing. Even though I would not say I was totally invested in the characters, I was still on the edge of my seat watching the action scenes.

As for the rest of the film, I can’t say it really grabbed me much. Perhaps I had too high of expectations for it, but Top Gun: Maverick was such a big hit last year and I have heard so many people talk about how great and refreshing of a film it was, I was a little disappointed with what I got. I think Tom Cruise does a good job in it, as he’s always been a competent actor, and I’m always happy to see Jennifer Connelly. And I also think the overall message of the dilemmas of being a good father figure was a good thing. I just don’t think the writing was that great and the script didn’t make any of the other characters very interesting. As cool as the action scenes were, I wasn’t really invested in their story to care much about what happened to all of them.

I think the main thing that people who loved Top Gun: Maverick seemed to latch onto was the surrogate father-son relationship between Maverick and Rooster. I’ve certainly noticed over the past decade how this sort of relationship that used to be a common trope in stories has faded from films, as it’s usually a father-daughter relationship instead, if there is even a paternal figure at all. The fact that Top Gun: Maverick focuses on their relationship probably stood out to a lot of people who have noticed the trend as well, and maybe that improved their opinion of it. I was perfectly happy to see that dynamic tackled, but I don’t think it was handled in a way that made me more attached to either character. The dialogue was cheesy and it felt like the movie was trying too hard in the same way that many ‘80s movies would try to increase the emotional drama with the bending of guitar strings and lines from characters that were meant to sting at the same time the music swelled as they barked at each other. Maybe I’m too much of a cynical jerk who enjoys laughing at the cheese of movies like Roadhouse and Rocky IV, but it felt too much like an ‘80s movie transported into the modern era with its blunt and obvious attempts at emotional sentimentality. Maybe if I give it enough time and come back to it with lowered expectations, I’ll enjoy it more the next time around and be able to see what everyone else does about this movie.

TL;DR

Top Gun: Maverick is a surprisingly exciting sequel to the iconic original. Its major improvement over its predecessor is that it has an actual story with some stakes to move the plot along. While I found some of the dialogue to be a little too cheesy to be taken seriously, and I didn’t really care about many of the characters, there is no denying that the action scenes of this movie are fantastic. Every scene with the fighter jets is tense and stunning to behold to the point that they carry the film. A little over two hours, half of that time is spent in the fighter jets with the actors, so even if you are a cynical ass like myself who didn’t get much out of the characters, you’ll still be entertained by the impressive action sequences.