Top Gun : Maverick

It’s a familiar opening: the planes landing and taking off the aircraft carrier, the crews going through the theatrics of the thumbs up and leg stretching and, Kenny Loggins.

Cut to the Mojave Desert and Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is confronted by the news that his project has been dropped by the military and that to all intents and purposes, he’s a relic after 30 years still a captain seemingly lacking ambition. That’s what some Admiral played by Ed Harris says to Maverick after he’s test flighted the project one last time, against orders. He’s busted for that then told to report to Top Gun HQ for a mission.

Maverick is ostensibly only there to train the best of the best for an impossible mission to destroy an anti-NATO nuclear dump. His job is to weed out an elite from the elite. These characters and call-signs we meet later on as they preen across the screen in their uniforms at a local bar where Maverick is reacquainting with bar owner Penny (Jennifer Connolly).

The familiar brash and arrogance are all present and when Mitchell is set up and thrown out by the Top Gunners, it’s no surprise that he turns up the next morning to take mission control to the embarrassment of the aforementioned elite.

To say much more is not so much to avoid spoilers more because the viewer (save for few elements) will know what is going to happen anyway. But this is done in such wonderful and sincere manner that it really doesn’t matter.

The action and flight sequences are incredible, on another level from anything I have seen before, with an intensity and tension that is exhilarating. These are enhanced by the terrific sound design with the plane’s controls crunching as the pilots adjusting in flight.

These sequences make refreshing change from the purely computer-generated images that audiences are getting too used to. The stress and humour of the pilots when flying is palpable, so the viewer is not at arm’s length from them as people, which makes from some very intense watching at times. That is down to the actors (who are actually flying) and the perfect pacing and control of director Joseph Kosinski who never drops a beat.

Away from the action, there’s conflict with authority and little in the way of true character development, aside from Maverick. Though still roguish, he now has a maturity that befits the character and the time passed. The only other characters of note are the aforementioned Connelly and Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the late Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw’s son with whom there is unfinished business. There is a genuinely poignant scene between Mitchell and the Admiral Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky (Val Kilmer) that will defy anyone not to well up.

Kosinski has retained the dusty hues of the first film and it looks stunningly beautiful. What will also be familiar is the deployment of songs within the film; I doubt I’ll ever listen to The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again in the same way again.

What doesn’t quite work so well is the script that can at times be quite moving to clunky as hell. But it would be churlish to beat the film with that because all said Top Gun: Maverick is up there with the very best sequels; paying due respect to the 1986 original (and Tony Scott) while stamping its own identity.