I hadn’t planned to see the Tom’s Cruise’s reboot of his 1986 classic, but a slow holiday weekend allowed for the time to kill a few hours with my family at Top Gun Maverick.
I am glad I did.
As I scanned the theater, I suddenly realized that the level of Top Gun fandom was lost on me. There were several patrons in Top Gun or military themed t-shirts. One reading “Because I was inverted” upside down was tops for me. I was 9-year-old when the original was released so maybe I just didn’t understand the film beyond its familiar TBS re-runs. Whatever the reason, the theater experience of Maverick was impeccable.
The opening of the movie, a brief monologue by Tom Cruise felt like a warm, touching, only loosely scripted, personal pay off for the older fans of the first movie. This opening was touching and unique.
My kids (ages 6 through 16) hadn’t seen the first movie and enjoyed the new one – favoring the action in the jets. Additionally, upon leaving the theater it was decided that we’d have to watch the OG by my youngest son, 9-year-old Everett. I heard several younger kids expressing the same sentiment. If you take your children, you are likely watching the original on Netflix shortly.
Other than the vivid action of the fighter jet scenes my kids loved, I thought that Top Gun Maverick was a Tom Cruise showcase – he dominated in every aspect, in virtually every scene. Note: Tom Cruise turns 60 in a month and went toe-to-toe with the other, younger hunky hot-shot pilots in the one shirtless beach scene. My wife walked away impressed and so did I.
Cruise was not only the film’s sexy lead, he rounded out the edges on many of the plot leftovers from the original film – his relationship with “Iceman” (Val Kilmer), his shattered love interests of the past, whether he ever settled down, Maverick’s adorable recklessness, and the emotional toll the death of his former co-pilot (“Goose”) has taken on him.
For kids, watching the first Top Gun was unnecessary for enjoyment of the second. If you’re an adult, a vague recollection of the first movie will certainly heighten your experience and opinion of the second.
Top Gun Maverick, for me, boiled down to two storylines: (a) the mission and (b) an update on Maverick’s life. As far as storyline (a) goes, watching Maverick teach young pilots at Top Gun was gratifying for a middle-aged dad like me. I like the idea of the old-school guy showing young people lessons they can’t Google or instantly learn in absence of actually doing.
Plot line (b), for me though, was better – and a set up for what is to come for future Top Gun sequels. The audience is given insights into Mav’s intentional life of solitude, trails of pissed off bosses, skipped promotions, and on-going resentment for authority while introducing Cruise’s character to thoughts about his future outside of the cockpit. I was a bit “meh” on the love story with Penny (Jennifer Connelly), but loved the limited introduction of her daughter as the conduit to allow Maverick to think about what “settling down” might look like.
I will note that I did not understand if Maverick’s love interest was supposed to be the same lady as the first one (?). She lived in the same house as the first one but was brunette and not “Charlie” so I was a bit confused about about her fit. Whichever, she’ll be a part of the next movie, I’m sure.
I believe there will be more Top Gun movies with a retired Maverick who is married and raising a young lady, deciding to hand over the F-18 throttles to the hot, young, hunky pilots who dot the screen of Top Gun Maverick.
I’d bet on that.
And, I’ll bet that I will enjoy it as much.
