Grade: B
The opening title sequence in Top Gun: Maverick so closely resembles the beginning of Top Gun (1986), you might have to pay attention to figure out which movie you’re really seeing. It made me think of Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake in 1998, where he famously re-created Alfred Hitchcock’s original film with a slavish attention to detail. Here, in Top Gun: Maverick, it is one of several nuggets and homages that reward viewers who remember the first movie.
I rewatched Top Gun in preparation for the sequel. I liked Top Gun: Maverick better, but that’s not saying much. In the 1986 film, the scenes in the air were awesome, but the action on the ground came off as predictable, treacly, and obligatory. Kelly McGillis never did anything for me, the love story was unbelievable, and the 80s feel has not stood the test of time. Top Gun: Maverick, however, possesses an effective and credible storyline that matches the spectacle in the sky.
I’ve long thought Tom Cruise was an underrated actor. I would have given him the Oscar for Magnolia. His love interest here is Penny Benjamin, who was very briefly name-checked but not seen in the first film – and is played by Jennifer Connelly, as appealing as ever. The late Goose’s son is all grown up here. He goes by Rooster, and is played by Miles Teller, who memorably starred as the aspiring drummer in Whiplash. Jon Hamm and Glen Powell are hot-headed, naysaying, skeptical villain-types, and I loved to hate them. The always welcome Ed Harris shows up early in the film for one scene, to chew Maverick out, much like James Tolkan in the first movie. Monica Barbaro is a face to watch as the tough and spunky Phoenix, from the new batch of flyers. And Val Kilmer shows up as Iceman, in a poignant bit that imitates Kilmer’s real-life health struggles.
We unfortunately don’t see Meg Ryan as Goose’s wife/Rooster’s mother here, but the screenplay answers the question of her fate. “Take My Breath Away” – from Top Gun – won the Oscar for Best Original Song. The new film ends with a song at least as good: “Hold My Hand,” a Lady Gaga/BloodPop collaboration, sung by Gaga. There is a fun scene where Cruise’s Maverick and the flyers play football on the beach, which mirrors the famous volleyball sequence from the first movie.
It’s funny how that wildly successful iconic film from 1986 is now just a mediocre prequel; the opening act for a superior follow-up 36 years later.
Grade: B
Film Reviews by Mark 
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