Long-awaited and in some ways superior follow-up to the 1986 blockbuster that continues to establish Tom Cruise as THE big-screen blockbuster superstar that has evolved beyond his original break-out role as Pete Maverick.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, who worked with Cruise on OBLIVION, TOP GUN: MAVERICK sees Cruise cut from the supersonic team after defying his superior (Ed Harris) whilst attempting to take the latest plane beyond Mach-10. Called back by old foe and comrade ‘Iceman’ Kazansky (Val Kilmer, relegated to a cameo as a Commander of the Pacific Fleet) to train a new youthful group of ‘Top Gun’ graduates, problems and conflicts are inevitable, given the presence of ‘Rooster’ (Miles Teller, WHIPLASH), the son of Maverick’s co-pilot Goose (Anthony Edwards) who died in an accident in the original film.
No sign of Kelly McGillis here, with the female interest coming in the form of Peggy (Jennifer Connelly, more than a match and a compliment to Cruise here). All the elements that made the original film such a hit are here – piano sing-songs in bars, rivalry in training and incredible action sequences that equal and on occasion surpass the original’s airborne action.
What elevates MAVERICK above the original is a less sentimental approach that sticks to the path, coupled with IMAX camera POVs and some edge of seat in-your-face dogfighting. A reason to go back to the cinema. Please do try and see this at the cinema rather than on your plasma – the IMAX version is a superior experience in sound and vision