Top Gun: Maverick hits the afterburners from the first movie, 35 years ago, with intense actors in real F-18 cockpits and equally strong character scenes! Top Gun (1986) was an 80’s sensation in terms of the action, soundtrack, and of course Tom Cruise. Navy recruitment went up 500% after the movie opened. It did not have the actors actually in the jets. The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski who also directed Cruise in the sci fi movie, Oblivion (2013) and also the sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010). The story is by Peter Craig and Justin Marks with a screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, who also co-wrote and directed Cruise in Mission: Impossible Fallout (2018). Also, screenwriters Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer, who co-wrote Kosinski’s drama, Only the Brave (2017). The film begins with an introduction by Tom Cruise who mentions they used “real F-18s” and “real Gs.”
It begins with Harold Faltermeyer’s “Top Gun Anthem” from the original movie. We get a text page about the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program that trains the best pilots. The Top Gun school moved from Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California to Fallon, Nevada in 1996. This moves to the aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, with launches of fighter jets that immediately goes into Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone.” Watching it in a theater is intense from the jet fighter visuals to the booming engines. This is all to catch viewers up on the supersonic pace of Top Gun. This fades and then we get Mojave Desert, California. There we are introduced to Captain Pete Mitchell, callsign “Maverick” (Cruise). Next year, Cruise returns to play Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. The characters are for the most part identified by their call signs.
Maverick is working in a hangar on his P-51 Mustang. He sees on a wall photos of Goose (Anthony Edwards) and his son. Maverick gets his aviator sunglasses and his 2022 Kawasaki H2 motorcycle. He rides into a military base and meets Hondo (Bashir Salahuddin) who says the project was working on hitting Mach 9, but the Darkstar scramjet was contracted to reach Mach 10. Salahuddin created and stars in the comedy show, Sherman’s Showcase. Hondo is a loyal, but military personnel supporter for Maverick. Admiral Caine, called jokingly the Drone Ranger, is shutting down the program. Caine has not arrived so Maverick wants one last ride. He is a test pilot, another film had an experimental plane, Firefox (1982), but it is exceeded by this movie.
Maverick takes the Darkstar out to the runway as Admiral Caine (Ed Harris) is driven to the base. He takes off and the shockwave lifts up a building and sprays Caine with dust. Caine reaches the control room and Hondo makes excuses. There is some humor from the dialogue. The Darkstar crosses a beautiful sky and clouds, excellent cinematography by Claudio Miranda who worked on Kosinski’s other films. Maverick is able to get the Darkstar to Mach 9, then forces it higher, up to 9.7 when the heat shield starting to fail and the cockpit starts to rattle. Every point is desperate until Maverick reaches Mach 10. Then, he pushes it higher, until 10.4 when the screens go dark and all contact is lost with Maverick. He manages to survive and gets a dressing down by Admiral Caine. The admiral goes over Maverick’s “30+ years of service”, the only pilot to shoot down two enemy planes in 40 years, and should have been made “at least a two star admiral or senator.”
He may have saved the program for some time, but Maverick is escorted off the base and thanks to his guardian angel sent to North Island. It is the site of the Naval Air Station in San Diego. Caine tells Maverick he is “headed to extinction” with pilots replaced by drones. Maverick looks back and says, “Not today.” At North Island, races on his bike next to jet as it takes to the air. Maverick walks in to the base and sees photo of Admiral Tom `Iceman’ Kazansky (Val Kilmer), Commander of the US Fleet. Kilmer was in this year’s historical drama, Canyon del Muerto. He meets in the office, Admiral `Cyclone’ Simpson (Jon Hamm) and Admiral `Warlock’ Bates (Charles Parnell). Hamm plays Gabriel in the Good Omens series. Parnell played another officer in The Last Ship series.
They debrief him on a mission to destroy a plant that will become active in two weeks with uranium. It is in a crater ringed by a mountain. Maverick is asked how he would run the mission. A low level flight to get below surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) at high speed. Then, a high-g inversion to get over the mountain and hit the base with missiles while painting it with a laser. A second group will do the same to destroy the plant and then the fighter group has to do a high-g, Mach 9 ascent which will make them vulnerable to SAMs. This has to be done before 5th generation fighters arrive. He has worked out this plan to give the chance for the pilots to survive which is not a high priority for Cyclone. This is a growth of Maverick's character, it is not his skill at piloting, it his concern for all pilots to return home.
Maverick will teach pilots, the best of the best Top Gun graduates, to accomplish the mission. At the Hard Deck bar, Maverick orders a drink from the owner, Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). Currently, the sci fi show, Snowpiercer, stars Connelly as Melanie Cavill. Penny’s character was mentioned in the first movie when Maverick and Goose are sent to Top Gun school as “a pass with one admiral’s daughter.” Goose adds, “Penny Benjamin.” She tells Maverick that three years ago after he was sent away by an admiral that she bought the bar. Then, he did tours in Bosnia and Iraq. Penny rings the bell and announces that all drinks are on Maverick’s tab. He broke the bar’s rules by placing his cellphone on the bar. Lt. `Hangman’ Seresin (Glen Powell) is playing pool at the bar. Powell played John Glenn in Hidden Figures (2016). He is basically the competitive rival like Iceman in Top Gun.
Several more pilots enter including Lt. `Phoenix’ Trace (Monica Barbaro). The actress was in the crime drama, Stumptown. Phoenix is a very capable fighter pilot and a match for the others. The other pilots are Lt. `Payback’ Fitch (Jay Ellis) and his fellow officer who detects threats, Lt. `Fanboy’ Garcia (Danny Ramirez). Ellis played Lawrence Walker in the Insecure series. Ramirez was Lt. Joaquin Torres in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Phoenix points out to the other pilots that Hangman is a brash pilot only out for himself and not others, leaving them hanging resulting in his callsign. Sitting nearby is Lt. Floyd callsign Bob which he explains is just his name. He is the weapon systems officer responsible for painting the target with the jet’s laser and teamed with Phoenix. Also entering the bar is Lt. `Rooster’ Bradshaw played by Miles Teller. Connelly starred with Teller in Only the Brave.
Maverick recognizes him and tries to pay off his tab with his credit card. Penny tells it was declined and rings the bell. The bar patrons cheer, “Overboard!” Hangman and others lift Maverick up and toss him out of the bar. Phoenix and other pilots gather around as Rooster is at the piano. He starts to play “Great Balls of Fire” that get the pilots to sing along and Maverick stares. He thinks back to the same scene with Goose and the crash that ended his life. The next day, Warlock briefs the pilots and introduces Maverick, their instructor of this “special training detachment.” He has the pilots in the air for dogfight maneuvers. There is of course tension between the pilots and Maverick.
Each one is tested and Maverick gives Rooster the advice, “Don’t think, just do.” Later, we get Maverick telling Penny that he had pulled Rooster’s application setting his career back four years and was never forgiven. His objective is to teach the pilots “How to come home.” Maverick meets with Penny’s daughter, Amelia (Lyliana Wray). He has to find a way to accomplish a high-risk mission while trying to get the pilots to return, form the team, and reconcile with Rooster. Also to somehow teach the wild pilots, get past Cyclone’s restrictions, and also somehow prove to Penny that he won’t leave him like before. Top Gun: Maverick has stronger character arcs, intense F-18 fighter jet flights, and finish the mission of a sequel’s juggling of returning characters, developing them as well as new ones!
Five G’s out of Five!
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