OPINION | REVIEW: ‘Top Gun’ sequel matches its predecessor, but with a bit more immersion

Still flying high

Danger zone: Tom Cruise reprises his role as hotshot pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which eschews computer imagery in favor of having its pretend pilots shoot their scenes inside the cockpits of actual fighter jets being flown by real-life military pilots.
Danger zone: Tom Cruise reprises his role as hotshot pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which eschews computer imagery in favor of having its pretend pilots shoot their scenes inside the cockpits of actual fighter jets being flown by real-life military pilots.


Sequels are a lot easier to take if they have something to offer instead of nostalgia for the previous installment.

Tony Scott's "Top Gun" was a box office hit that also encouraged legions of young men and women to become military pilots. It was also a Christmas present to the satirists at RiffTrax who found the beach volleyball scene (and much of the rest of the movie) to be a target rich environment. Similarly, Quentin Tarantino convincingly argues in the otherwise forgettable "Sleep with Me" that "Top Gun" is a gay metaphor. It may be the moonlighting director's funniest and most entertaining on-camera moment.

Director Joseph Kosinski has the advantage of nearly 40 years of technological improvement. The RiffTrax crew quipped (unfairly) that the flight scenes in the first movie were almost as exciting as balancing a checkbook or ledger.

This time around viewers can actually feel as if they are in the fighter jets with Tom Cruise and his castmates as they maneuver them through obstacles that destroy the expensive planes and kill their pilots. Having seen the movie in an IMAX auditorium, the sense of immersion is worth the price of admission.

An added bonus is that the script occasionally makes viewers care about the occupants in the cockpit. Cruise's go-to screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (the brain behind "Jack Reacher" and the more recent "Mission: Impossible" sequels) and his collaborators Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer have a storyline that in some respects is better than the previous outing.

In the first movie, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Cruise) was simply trying to compete to be the Navy's top aviator. Here, he's got more than a title to chase.

Maverick earned his call sign by upsetting superior officers. This time around the decorated pilot never advanced beyond captain because he tried saving a stealth program by achieving a speed goal even though the military is moving away from fighters and bombers. His new Admiral (Ed Harris) is known as the "Drone Ranger" because he wants planes that aren't at the mercy of a pilot's schedule or location.

When Maverick proves that the bomber can reach Mach 10 and that it's a fragile and costly machine, it's surprising his career hasn't seen more court martials than medals.

Before Maverick involuntarily hangs up his wings, his former squadron mate Tom "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer) assigns him to a crucial mission where his risky tendencies might be the only thing that could make it work.

The new Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (Jon Hamm) likes Maverick even less than his predecessor did, but the pilot's knack for changing the definition of impossible might be worth the aging junior officer's attitude. He might be the only person who can teach recent Top Gun graduates how to take out a rogue uranium enrichment facility and return home to talk about the attack.

The enemy doesn't have a name this time, and their flight helmets obscure any facial features they might have. In the current film market, that makes sense. It's hard to convince overseas ticket buyers to see a movie where Tom Cruise and company might be bombing your own home.

When people tell Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick" they don't like the look he's giving, he consistently replies, "It's the only one I've got."

For the sake of the movie, that's an asset.

The actor's daredevil persona is still intact, and he has just enough charm to keep the routine from getting old. In this outing, Maverick has just enough heart and a little bit of brain that prevents him from wrecking more aircraft. Losing a buddy in the air will do that.

Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller) is the son of his former partner "Goose," and the younger pilot justifiably resents Maverick for grounding him. That probably hurts him as much as losing his dad when Maverick was behind the controls.

The supporting cast of potential aces is about as ill-defined as the enemy pilots. Rooster requires some of Teller's formidable chops to pull off, but the nerdy but lethal weapons expert Lt. Robert "Bob" Floyd (Lewis Pullman) is about the only new student who leaves much of an impression. As Cruise's love interest du jour, Jennifer Connelly projects just enough of a "seen-it-all" vibe to keep her role from seeming completely obligatory.

Thankfully, the screenwriters were clever enough to give Cruise's former on-screen antagonist Kilmer a short, but dignified reason to show up. By acknowledging Kilmer's off-screen struggle with cancer, there's an emotional depth that almost fills in the gap between explosions.

I skipped a dues payment at the Psychic Friends Club, so I can't tell you how "Top Gun: Maverick" will age. At present, it's reassuring that Lady Gaga sounds just as welcome in the soundtrack as Kenny Loggins once did.


‘Top Gun: Maverick’

86 Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Bashir Salahuddin, Charles Parnell, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language

Running time: 2 hours, 11 minutes

Playing theatrically

 



  photo  More than 35 years on, “Maverick” (Tom Cruise) is still upsetting his superior officers and producing amazing results. The long-awaited (and oft-delayed) “Top Gun: Maverick” is in theaters today.
 
 


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