I was born in 1986. The same year that the first ‘Top Gun’ movie came out. So this film has a special place in my heart. Of course my dad was a fan and growing up it was one of the films that was always in the background. Here we are thirty six years later,my father already passed and I know that he would have loved the new film and I guess in a way, I’m kind of like Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Rooster (Miles Teller) going into this whole experience, missing a really important person in my life. (Ha! The drama and the water works are early.) But I guess it’s just one of the constants in life. No matter how painful and difficult we have to carry on in life, I’m sure our loved ones wouldn’t want us to miss out on life’s incredible experiences, and reader, I kid you not, Top Gun: Maverick is truly a cinematic experience you shouldn’t miss.
I am absolutely blown away as to how the sequel is so much better than the original. Thanks to progress in filmmaking and a stronger story with tighter emotional pulls. Of course, the original is a cult classic, an innovation already during its time but Maverick takes it higher and faster (up to 10.03 machs!)
There’s so much to love about the sequel! From the stronger story, incredible, never before scene action sequences, an impossible, suicide mission for the best of the best pilots to the deeper, more emotional consequences that also tie the story together for a more cohesive experience. It’s an emotional roller coaster, from feeling amazed, excited, suspended in disbelief in one scene, then crying and hurting the next. I was at the edge of my seat, hands folded in prayer, my heart was pounding in my chest, it was a surreal and visceral experience- as if I was inside the cockpit hitting those Gs myself! See this in the cinemas, anything else would just be a waste!
A suicide mission with impossible parameters, the best of the best pilots but who will train them? Who will make a team out of them?
Enter Captain Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise) AKA Maverick, a reckless and talented pilot with ‘real world experience’ who has been tasked to instruct a young group of pilots. And not just any pilots but the best of the best. Things get complicated with one of the students, who is none other than Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw (Miles Teller) the son of Mitchell’s slain co-pilot ‘Goose’ in the first film.
There is an understandable tension between the two, as Mitchell finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place. As he knows that if he doesn’t choose ‘Rooster’ for the dangerous mission, Rooster will resent him but if Maverick does have him in the mission, there is a possibility that he won’t be coming back home. I really found this conflict interesting and just ups the stakes.
There are a lot of things to love about the film, but my number one favorite thing about it are the edge-of-your-seat action sequences, there has been nothing like it in recent years! The dog fighting, evading tactics and maneuvers are absolutely out of this world!
This is an experience you shouldn’t miss in the cinemas! Make the time! You won’t regret it!