Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick

After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen.

  • Released: 2022-05-24
  • Runtime: 131 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Drama
  • Stars: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Miles Teller, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm, Roberta Sparta, Manny Jacinto, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, Monica Barbaro, Lyliana Wray, Jean Louisa Kelly, Raymond Lee, Jake Picking, Greg Tarzan Davis, Kara Wang, Randy Davison, Lewis Pullman, Rachel Winfree, Jane Vande Voorde, Adam Pepper, Landon Gordon, Peter Mark Kendall, Jack Schumacher, Chelsea Harris, Darnell Kirkwood, Austin Bowerman, Stephanie Andrea Barron, Peter Mark Kendall, Ian Gary, Bob Stephenson, James Handy, Chido Nwokocha, Chaz Ingram, Rachael Markarian, Shannon Kane, Norman Ralph Eliasen, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan, Tom Cruise, Alec Williams, Margaret Strabala, Ryan Heilmann, Shantel Limbo, Whylip Lee, Tristan Henry, Jason Robert Boles, Brian Ferguson, Kelly McGillis, Phil Jordan
  • Director: Joseph Kosinski
 Comments
  • ElectrifiedToast - 12 January 2023
    Top Gun = Top Fun
    A great fun movie to watch, I can't help but think everyone (myself included) likes this so much simply because of the wave of dross "content" both at the cinema and streaming spaces we'd had to endure for the most part of 2022.

    So yeah maybe it's getting an extra star than it truly deserves. Honestly it feels like we've had nothing but hot muddy puddle water to drink and Maverick comes along and it feels like pure mountain filtered water and ice cubes.

    Anyway enough of the state of entertainment. This film is just fun to watch. The world and it's characters feel firmly planted. It's the flight sequences that really standout, going that extra mile to film these away from some greenscreen sound stage really comes across on screen. Quite the visceral experience to watch, the cinematography here certainly warrants an extra star.

    Some parts of the film just seem a bit over the top and too far fetched. In most, that's the earlier part of the film with the super jet Maverick is flying.

    You already know what kind of film you're going in to watch and it doesn't disappoint. You're not going to get any dramatic plot twists or character revelations, the story is your fairly typical popcorn-movie plot but it's all done and shot superbly.
  • rachnowen - 9 January 2023
    100% Worth the wait!
    Top Gun has been one of my top 10 movies since roughly 1988, and I've wanted a sequel for so long. So when it was announced that it was being filmed, my excitement levels were on overdrive. However, I genuinely never thought the sequel would outdo the original. How wrong I was! It was 100% worth the wait, even when covid got in the way of its original release date. My husband and I had goosebumps as the opening song began, and from start to finish my emotions were all over the place. Goose's son, Bradley (Rooster), couldn't have been portrayed better than by Miles Teller. The similarities between them, are what makes the character of Rooster so believable. Having him playing the piano and singing 'Great Balls of Fire', was both heartbreaking, and a well thought out way to completely cement their connection. Especially when Maverick has the flashback to the last time they were all together, and Bradley (Rooster) was sitting on top of the piano, singing with his dad. I also loved that they both 'spoke to Goose', to help them get through any intense moments, and that they ended up flying together, with Rooster doing what his dad did. Their on screen relationship was electric - one cares unequivocally for one, the other is intensely angry at him, and when Maverick says he won't tell Rooster that it was his mum's dying request, and he'd rather Rooster be angry at him and not his mum, is such a beautiful and sad moment. He loves him like a father would, and you get to see how Rooster's feelings towards Maverick changes, and how Maverick finally sees Rooster as an equal, and not the boy he once knew. The acting by all cast members is of an extremely high calibre, the story itself is extremely well written, and the mission has your heart racing with you sitting on the edge of your seat. It was definitely better than the one in the original. Also, seeing Val Kilmer as Ice Man, really was the perfect touch. It's a film for everyone - a story of strength, power struggles, great flying scenes, heartache, saving lives, love, pride, faith (not religious), trust, and Tom Cruise still manages a flyby. The gratuitous beach football scene, is one not to be missed - if half naked, muscular/well defined men bonding, is your cup of tea. I certainly wasn't complaining... It's a movie to watch more than once, and the all the feels will still be there. 10/10 from me, my husband, and our children.