Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Score: A+ (10/10)

The Top Gun franchise may be a bit older and more cliché than other films, but Top Gun: Maverick’s witty delivery and sublime action sequences make it a film worth watching in the forthcoming years.

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Many people these days know that Tom Cruise is one of the best actors in Hollywood. He flies planes, climbs buildings, and fights enemies, sometimes in the span of a single movie. However, without 1986’s Top Gun, Cruise wouldn’t be the action hero he is today. His character, Maverick, is talented but selfish, and his resulting vulnerability in the film is brilliantly done by a young Tom Cruise. However, going into the film’s sequel, things were different–not just for Tom Cruise’s career, but for filmmaking.

Luckily, Top Gun: Maverick is a brilliant successor to the 1986 original. It first establishes the franchise’s status quo with nostalgic themes and high-powered jet fighters. It keeps new or returning audience members interested in what Top Gun offers, especially considering Maverick’s Mach 10 flight test to open the film. Great Balls of Fire also returns to universal fanfare, both by the audience and the film’s characters, and the film includes a nearly 30-minute jet-fighter extravaganza. The audience can’t help but smile and applaud whenever those nostalgic moments and melodies kick into high gear.

However, the film also has a heartfelt and emotional impact. Maverick is more vulnerable than ever, especially when teaching Goose’s son, Rooster, at Top Gun. His guilt is present throughout most of the movie through the inevitable end of his naval career. Fortunately, Maverick also delivers some of the most heart-pounding sequences to prove that their suicide mission is possible to complete. There’s even a moment where Maverick knows and understands the sacrifice he’ll have to make on the naval mission in one of the most gut-wrenching parts of the film. The emotions delivered throughout keep the audience emotionally attached to Maverick and everyone else in Top Gun because of their willingness to sacrifice themselves and the talent they have to do it.

Top Gun: Maverick proves that cinema is a place for entertainment and fanfare. Its highs and lows brilliantly affect audiences, new and old, and perfectly encapsulate what a blockbuster film is at its core. Tom Cruise is another man to love for his filmography and stunt work with his outstanding reprisal as Maverick, and the supporting cast provides great chemistry around industry mainstreams. The Top Gun franchise may be a bit older and more cliché than other films, but Top Gun: Maverick’s witty delivery and sublime action sequences make it a film worth watching in the forthcoming years.