SP Movie Review: Top Gun Maverick (2022) (SPOILERS)

[Sturmvogel Prime]

Top Gun, for many of us is what we can call "Childhood Adrenaline" since most of us saw the movie when we were kids you'll probably understand why I call it like that: Blazing fast jet action sequences accompanied with an intense, adrenalinic soundtrack that make Star Wars look like a kiddie ride, 'cos Top Gun puts you in the pilot seat without leaving the chair.

Talking about Top Gun is always a "Blast from the Past", and the news about a sequel since 2010 were received with suprise. After the first trailer was released in 2019, Top Gun Chronicles, I mean, Top Gun Maverick was finally released this 2022. ¿Why I called it Chronicles? Simple. Paramount Picutres pulled a Qute Corporation on the release date just like Natsuki Chronicles: Delay after delay after delay after delay. But after all those delays, we finally have it.

The first thing we notice is how Nostalgic-accurate the opening sequence is, up to the fonts used on the opening credits and the prologue text, making it look even more like a continuation of the first one. Simple things that do great results. Speaking of the opening, like the first one, is the Top Gun Anthem/Main Title-Danger Zone mix up and like in 1986, Danger Zone cuts the solemnity of the theme to go straight into the action with the aircraft taking off and landing along with the carrier personnel in action running and getting things ready. The sequence is slightly shorter than the first film, but is still great enough. After a brier calm moment where Maverick is called to the action again we're granted with a new flight sequence featuring a new jet: The Darkstar. This is when we learn that Maverick took a second job as a test pilot that satisfies his need for speed. Obviously, his desire rips the Darkstar apart and he'd be kicked out of his flying carrer if it wasn't for a miracle: He was called back to Top Gun by request of his former rival Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now an Admiral and Commander of the Pacific Fleet (Holy Iceman, Batman!). This is where the "In the school" part of the movie hits the scene and we're briefly introduced to the new pilots.

There's a bar scene in the movie where we meet the newbies and Mav's love interest. This time is a character who was named before but never seen. ¿Remember the couple of times where they mentioned the name "Penny Benjamin" and "The Admiral's Daughter" in the first Top Gun? We finally see her as a bar owner and a single mother. For Maverick, this means a re-encounter with his first love, although this re-encounter is truncated in a humorous manner: By the bar rules and by the Top Gun graduates who are costumers at the time. The first one is because Maverick broke one of the bar rules: Putting his cellphone on the bar, resulting him on inviting the round of drinks to everyone, and second, by being thrown out of the bar by the graduates. This new generation of pilots are men and women who are already the best of the best, among them is Jake "Hangman" Seresin and Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Mav's best friend, "Goose". As Rooster plays and sings "Great Balls of Fire" on the piano like his father did, this triggers memories in Maverick: When he sang along with Goose and Bradley back then, the tragic flameout accident and failed ejection that killed him and when he faced Carole. Maverick now has to confront his past and try to heal the wound on the Mitchell-Bradshaw friendship.


Unlike the first movie where all of them were newbies who are there looking for a dream shot, this time are graduates from Top Gun who are back for a tougher training required for a very specialized mission: Bomb the hell out of a nuclear facility on a unnamed country, or "Rogue Nation" as the Matchbox toyline calls it ("Rogue Nation", like that Mission Impossible movie?). The enemy is equipped with heavy anti-air defenses, Russian SU-57's and 3 spare F-14A's, requiring a dangerous low altitude flight across a canyon like in the classic Area 88 anime. With such odds against the graduates, they require exceptional flight skills and only Pete Mitchell (Maverick) can do the job.

This is where we're the first training montage hits. Despite being graduates, Maverick takes them down as if they're rookies, all accompanied with the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who which fits on the mentality Mav's building up on them: Not be fooled by the enemy regardless of who are fighting against. Rooster's feelings against Maverick are shown during their flight training and even on class, as Hangman talks bad about Goose and almost loses his teeth if the rest of the class didn't stopped him in time. Goose's son has his reasons for hate Maverick beyond his father's death which he thinks it was Maverick's fault; Mav pushed his career in the past. With such turmoils on him, and the dilemma of pushing Rooster's career again or send him to a "Do-or-Die" mission, Maverick seeks help on his old friend Iceman, who re-assures his value as an instructor claiming that Rooster and the Navy need Maverick. This scene is a very important moment since its the return of Val Kilmer as Mav's former rival. Ice breaks the drama a little bit by asking a nostalgic question that puts a smile back on the broken Maverick: "¿Who was the best pilot?"

There's also moments of joy and smiles as the fun moments enter. This time as the pilots do a "Top Gun Tradition": Playing at the beach, not volleyball, but football. This is where OneRepublic's song "I ain't Worried" plays and Maverick tells Admiral Cyclone that they're not just playing, he's teaching them team combat. We also see romantic moments as Maverick and Penny rekindles their relationship as they sail together in her boat and riding along in his bike, there's also the "in bed" moment, and this is where Maverick explains her why Rooster hates him: He pushed his Navy application four years. ¿The Reason?: Carole Bradshaw. In her deathbed she asked Maverick to keep Bradley away from flying 'cos she didn't want him to die like Goose and Maverick promised to do so. "Family Humour" kicks in as Maverick and Penny's "Magico Incontro" is foiled by Amelia's unexpected return 'cos her friend was sick, forcing Maverick to pull an Ethan Hunt and leave Penny's house (through the window) without being noticed, but his way out is noticed by Amelia who simply tells him not to break her mom's heart again (BUUUUUSTEEEEED!!).

Training continues and things are gonna get ugly for the pilots: Flying below the safety limits imposed by Top Gun and simulating the canyon flight followed by a fast mountain climb and super-precise GBU bombing. They'll be pushed to their physical limits as they will be flying at 10G's, which also could compromise the Super Hornets. Failing the precision bombing will be the least of their problems, since the immense gravity stress on the pilots shows the consequences almost immediately as Coyote suffers a G-LOC that almost sends him to meet his maker if it wasn't for Maverick who locked on his jet to wake him up with the beep. But problems strike again as a birdstrike damages Phoenix's jet, forcing them to eject after trying to stabilize it in vain.

The aircraft-pilot problems are not just the only thing Maverick will face. As he faces Rooster who blames him for pushing his career for so much time. Rather than tell him "Mama told you NO" to flying, he tolds him that he's not ready 'cos if he thinks, he's dead and he should trust him. But Rooster only says his father believed in Maverick, but he's not gonna make that mistake. But before the discussion goes further, Warlock only calls Maverick without explaining a thing, but it is revealed that Iceman passed away due to his throat cancer. While all the pilots attend his funeral, Maverick knows one thing: His career is now vulnerable to the decisions of his superiors. Something that Cyclone immediately takes advantage as he removes Maverick from his assignment as instructor, but he reconsiders as Maverick proves that the original course parameters could be done.

With the team assembled, everything is set in motion for the final mission. This is where the jet action reaches Area 88's levels of thrills as we see the jets flying at low altitude across a canyon just like Shin Kazama and his buddies did in the classic anime OVAs. Unlike Star Wars, Top Gun Maverick didn't needed too much "Jet VS Jet" action in this part of the movie to keep you thrilled as we see Maverick and his teammates defying death dodging the SAM's and doing the "Do-or-Die" bombing that makes the Death Star trench run look like a water slide. Suspense is at the order of the day as we see Maverick sacrifying himself to save Rooster, but dodging death once again as he's alive and well while evading a russian helicopter (Why the scene makes me think of Rambo III?). Rooster saves him just in time, but he's shot down in the process, forcing the "Unstable duo" to solve their differences and work together, as they "borrow" one of the surviving F-14's in order to escape and return to the carrier. This was kinda like in Natsuki Chronicles when Natsuki takes a spare Dominator in Stage 8 after being shot down in her Garm. Back to Top Gun Maverick's review, as Maverick and Rooster take off (and break the front landing gear of the F-14 in pure 2012 style), two SU-57s intercept them. This is where the "Jet VS Jet" action finally enters in an epic battle between the F-14 and two SU-57's. After shooting the first one easily, the second one is an epic one-on-one duel that goes beyond your imagination and anything that the final duels of the Ace Combat games could bring. With one last suspense moment where Maverick/Rooster have to engage a third SU-57 without weapons, countermeasures and a not working ejection mechanism. Like xxx1993 said in his review, it was a Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga moment of bullet dodging suspense that keeps you on the seat until the unexpected hero Hangman arrives and saves them. Back in the carrier, the Seresin-Bradshaw rivalry becomes friendship and what's more important, Maverick and Rooster finally reconcile, as he tells Maverick that save him was something that Goose would do, Rooster's words are what heal the wound between the Mitchell-Bradshaw friendship bond.

With their friendship restored, Mav and Rooster are seen working together on his personal P-51 in the test facility, Penny arrives with her daughter and Maverick takes her for a ride in the Mustang while Rooster takes a look to Maverick's photoboard and smiles to a photo of his father and Maverick while looking at his victory celebration along Mav and his team mates. As Maverick flies into the sunset, the credits appear in the same style as the closing ones of its prequel while Lady Gaga's "Hold my Hand" plays, and right in the mid-credits, Mav's plane makes a fast flyby across the screen and the credits reveal the movie was dedicated to the memory of Tony Scott. The screen goes black and a re-arrangement of Top Gun Anthem plays during the rest of the credits. And after 36 years of waiting for a sequel, there you have it, Top Gun Maverick.

Along with the premise of pilot training and death defying stunts, one of the structures of this movie was the forgiveness, fixing what went wrong and starting over. The "Forgiveness" part is based on the Maverick-Rooster dilemma that starts with grudges and wounds from the past and his following distrust that must be overcome when they're forced to work together. The "Fix and Start Over" part is the Maverick-Penny relationship. Rather than starting a third relationship in his life after he and Charlie broke up, he decides to return with Penny and rekindle their old love.
One of the main aspects of Top Gun was that the content was "balanced" in a way that whatever genre the scene is focused, it wasn't boring or exaggerated. There's action, suspense, drama, comedy, romance altogether, and the drama and romance scenes don't feel forced or boring and contributed with the plotline the story is telling. Top Gun Maverick keeps that aspect perfectly well as the story shows us Maverick in a more human aspect as he faces fears and wounds of his past and rekindles an old relationship with his former girlfriend. Unlike Godzilla or Transformers, there's no "dumb blah-blah-blah" or "forced" moments and that's something that I appreciate (Learn from that, Transformers!). The jet action is the heart and soul of Top Gun, as they're as real, dynamic and intense, literally putting the viewer on the pilot seat, this sequel captures that perfectly. I still remember how the movie theatre was shaking during the Danger Zone segment, making you feel that you're close to the carrier action. If Mortal Kombat's tagline was "So Real It Hurts", then Top Gun should be "So Real You're in the Jets". Like in the first one, there's not too much need of having the fighter aircraft firing their weapons. Just blazing speeds and fast daredevil, death defying moves that defy whatever ordinary pilot knows as we fly with the "Best of the Best".


The soundtrack is also a major player here. While the original Top Gun brought the action with themes like Danger Zone, Mighty Wings and the epic Top Gun Anthem, the sequel reutilizes the first one. The original Danger Zone makes a return and it was a wise move 'cos Kenny Loggins originally wanted to use a new version, but it was Tom Cruise who made him change his mind 'cos he wanted to bring the same emotions from the original film. Although "Playing with the Boys" is not present, there's a song for the beach fun scene and that's OneRepublic's "I ain't Worried" as it fits on the summer mood. Lady Gaga is in charge of the love theme of the movie with "Hold My Hand" which more than being the successor of Berlin's "Take my Breath Away (Love Theme from Top Gun)", it is used more like the replacement of "You've lost that loving feeling" and "Mighty Wings" as it plays on the end of the film and during the first half of the credits. Harold Faltermeyer returns with the instrumental score. A detail that's notorious is that most of the instrumental themes are based on the key notes of both Top Gun Anthem and Hold My Hand. For instance "Darkstar", "The Man / The Legend / Touchdown" are perfect examples. While Danger Zone was played three times in the first film, here we have three arrangements of Top Gun Anthem: "Main Titles (You've been called back to Top Gun)", "The Man / The Legend / Touchdown" and the 2022 version of "Top Gun Anthem" played during the credits. The use of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" was a surprise and manages to fit in the training montage of the new pilots as Maverick takes them down.

xxx1993 already mentioned the videogame/shmup moments of this movie, but there's also more videogame reminiscence. The song "I ain't worried" has also a Forza Horizon feel, like a song that you'll hear on Horizon Bass Arena. As for "Hold My Hand", it reminds me of R-Type Final's "Proud of You", and if that wasn't enough, the "Hold My Hand" segment of the movie works quite well with "Monochrome" from R-Type Final 2. You can almost hear the piano and Mai Iida singing as Maverick and Penny stare at each other and the P-51 takes off.


Overall, we've got the perfect example of how make a sequel of a classic film. Top Gun Maverick is easily the "Best Sequel Ever", is in the same glorious podium as Terminator 2 Judgment Day, and the explosive return of a "Blast from the Past".

Also, there's news about Tom Cruise and Miles Teller thinking on Top Gun III/Top Gun: Rooster. So, it looks like we'll be in the Danger Zone for the third time.

[xxx1993]

Great review, but I really hope Paramount doesn’t make a Top Gun 3 because we waited too long for this one…