Top Gun Maverick Movie Review

Long belated sequels have become a trend in Hollywood. These sequels sometimes fall in the category of soft-reboot or legacy sequel. Top Gun: Maverick can be classed as both! 36 years after the original film flew into theatres and became a pop culture phenomenon, Maverick returns to the big screen in a very big way. At the time of writing this review the film is already Tom Cruise’s highest grossing film to date, with nearly $800 Million grossed at the worldwide box office. My anticipation for the film peaked with an interesting marketing campaign that promised a lot of the thrills the first film possessed but with updated visuals and improved stunt work. The film’s premise remains relatively similar to the original with the butting relationship this time around between Bradley Bradshaw, call sign ‘Rooster’, the son of Goose from the original film played by Miles Teller and Captain Pete Mitchell, call sign ‘Maverick’ played once again by the magnificent Tom Cruise. This film may just be the best time I have had in a cinema since Avengers: Endgame. The scope of the film remains small scale, but because of the amazing characters and near perfect action, I found myself completely swept up in the world of ‘Top Gun’ once again.

Part of what makes this film so amazing, is the dedication from its talented cast. We all know Tom Cruise is a mad man when it comes to putting his body on the line for the good of the movie. He has done it his whole career, with the Mission Impossible films being the shining example of this. He brings that risk over to ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, experiencing the G-force of the jets in the air, actually going up in the planes and training the cast around him in the art of stunt work. Cruise continues to astound audiences in his dedication to the finer details. It would be so easy these days with the technology available, to just put in a green screen to simulate the action set pieces, but the fact that Cruise and director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, Only the Brave) went the extra step really benefits the audiences, as we feel every action beat. 

The action here is seamless. There are computer generated effects that are also featured in the film, these are so well blended with the practical that you don’t even take notice of them. This is a credit to filmmaker Joseph Kosinski Kosinski has worked in effects heavy productions before with both practical and CGI effects, but has mastered his craft over the years, with Top Gun: Maverick being the pinnacle. The action is breathtaking, awe-inspiring, epic, it is everything I wanted it to be and more. The completion of the mission at the end of the film had me at the edge of my seat for the entire third act of the film. The stakes are high, the film has spent the previous two acts developing this group of characters so we as an audience really do care about the outcome and don’t want to see any of them get hurt. It’s a testament as well to Cruise’s friend, and colleague’s writing abilities, Mr Christopher McQuarrie. Kosinski also uses Hans Zimmer’s score appropriately. It is a play on the original score from the first film, but updated with new orchestral beats. When the score kicks in, you really do take notice of it, feeling almost like a character in the film. 

The films cast of characters are all magnificent as well. We have Hangman played by Glen Powell, Bob, played by Lewis Pullman, Phoenix played by Monica Barbaro, Payback played by Jay Ellis, Rooster played by Miles Teller and of course team leader Maverick played by Tom Cruise. The comradery felt between this group feels real. The banter is funny and sometimes leads to great tension within the group, especially between Glen Powell’s ‘Hangman’ and Miles Teller’s ‘Rooster’. The two go neck and neck, trying to get the wingman position for the mission and their relationship is very reminiscent of Iceman and Maverick from the original Top Gun. This comradery and conflict resulted in some of my favourite character driven scenes from the film. The cast are all great here and have fantastic chemistry with one another, I hope we see more of them in a possible third Top Gun film down the track. 

Top Gun: Maverick ranks among one of the best cinema going experiences I have ever had and quite possibly, one of my favourite action films of all time. It is superbly shot, marvellously executed and held together by a wonderful, heartfelt story about forgiveness and redemption. The action is breathtaking and the cast are all wonderful. I cannot recommend this one enough. Be sure to check this one out on the biggest screen you possibly can, but also make sure you pre-order this one on DVD, Blu-Ray or 4K UHD today as you won’t want to miss out on owning this gem. If you pre-order now online, you will also receive a bonus keychain (while stocks last). 

Get the Top Gun Movies on DVD, Blu-ray & 4K UHD here including Top Gun Maverick!

Christopher Pattison wrote this blog post for Sanity. See more from Chris here