By Kimberly Grant
They say “age ain’t nothing but a number.” If you wanted to see a visual representation of that phrase, look no further than Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. Maverick (otherwise known as Top Gun 2) will release in a theater near you on May 27.
The Film That Got the Story Right
In Maverick (written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie, based on characters created by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr based on an article, “Top Guns” written by Ehud Yonay) Cruise plays the title role as an older Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell who is still a daredevil, but wiser. Thirty years after the first film, Maverick is still a Navy captain flying planes as a test pilot and pushing the limits of what he can for his country. The conflict of the story is that there is a site containing dangerous uranium that threatens the national security of all Western countries.
In order to eradicate this threat, a special team of aviators will have to infiltrate the top secret site, do the deed, and escape enemy territory in three minutes. That’s one quick op. But, the Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) doesn’t want Maverick to fly a plane into enemy territory. They want him to train a group of young, top aviators to complete the mission. Those top-of-their-class aviators include Rooster (Miles Teller), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Bob (Lewis Pullman), Payback (Jay Ellis), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez), Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis), and Hangman (Glen Powell).
Supporting this band of merry aviators is Jennifer Connelly as Penny, Val Kilmer reprising his role as Iceman, Bashir Salahuddin as Hondo, Jon Hamm as Cyclone, and Charles Parnell as Warlock. Of course, many savvy fans of the film have already noted that certain actors who were in the first film are not in the second and their absence is unexplained. The actors include: Kelly McGillis (Charlie), Tim Robbins (Merlin), Meg Ryan (Carole), and Adrian Pasdar (Chipper). But I digress.
The Film That Should Have Been
Picture it! It’s 1986 and Cruise is in his sixth starring role playing Maverick as a hothead Navy pilot who doesn’t follow the rules. At the time, the first Top Gun was somewhat of a gamble. The estimated budget was $15 million (small for an action movie), there were relatively unknown stars, the writing wasn’t the best, and the film’s producers didn’t have access to actual military-like planes. So, all of the plane footage in the first movie was donated by the US military and there wasn’t a large variety to choose from.
Produced by the same people who brought us 1980s gems like Beverly Hills Cop and Flashdance, the first Top Gun was clearly a labor of love. That love translated to success with moviegoers, at the box office ($357.3 million worldwide gross), with movie critics, and at the Academy Awards. The song that instantly became a film score favorite was “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin. The film’s original song score turned classic won an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 1987 and the film was nominated for multiple Oscars and Golden Globe categories.
My only issue with Top Gun, other than the fact that I’m actually not a fan of “Take My Breath Away”, is that it was hard to follow. Not having any background in military ops or how the Navy works, I was lost watching the first movie. Not so for Maverick.
The Film That Got An Upgrade
Where Top Gun seemed to lack a storyline that was easy for anyone to follow, Maverick more than makes up for it. It’s sleeker. It’s easily understood. The action is better. The visuals are better. And even the music is better. It’s as if Maverick is the movie that the first Top Gun should have been if it’d had the bigger budget and higher level of access.
Director Joseph Kosinski brought us a film that was true to the first film’s storyline, but felt fresh. I’m glad that the producers decided to make this a sequel and not a reboot. As a sequel it allows moviegoers to get the full Top Gun experience without downgrading the first film. Both films are instant classics in their own right.
Likewise, the music is awesome. The variety of scores alone is refreshing compared to the first film, which basically had about three scores for the whole film. Fun fact: the music producers on this film includes Lady Gaga.
The Film That Needs to Be Seen
Whether you’re a film buff, action movie enthusiast, military aficionado, or casual observer, Maverick is a great film to watch. You won’t be lost on the storyline. You’ll be enthused with the suspense and the action. And, you’ll even stare in awe at how Tom Cruise is almost 60 and still doing his own stunts. Basically, Maverick is the perfect way to start the summer of action movies.
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