With great action sequences comes a great narrative. That is how I would describe Top Gun: Maverick! Last May 20, 2022, I attended the advanced screening of the movie at the newly-reopened IMAX Theatre in SM Megamall and I was sent for a roller coaster ride! Here’s our review of the sequel to an action classic!
More than thirty years since Top Gun premiered and made its way to the top of action movie lists, it’s now back with a much-awaited sequel. Tom Cruise returns as Maverick. Aged but still in his prime, he was one day called to train a new breed of TopGun graduates for a highly-dangerous mission. The student is now a teacher. This funny and interesting shift in events is one that was explored greatly in the movie!
Contents
Top Gun: Maverick And Its Real Flights
Perhaps one of the reasons the original movie was much-beloved is for its true usage of flight footage. It was a feat then in the 1980’s so the 2022 movie upped the forte by notches! Tom Cruise who is known for his death-defying and jaw-dropping stunts (Mission: Impossible!) tapped on his craziest in the movie and took us, the audience for a crazy ride (flight).
Paramount Pictures and Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films did not hold off in delivering action sequences that are not only stunning but are also heart-stopping. The aerial sequences which catapulted the original movie to being an instant classic have been elevated in the sequel.
While there is no doubt that Top Gun: Maverick delivered on the spectacle, it also upped the narrative.
Top Gun: Maverick Packs a Heart Behind the Guns
Without spoiling the events of the first movie, Maverick has the ghost of his past come back in the sequel. Included in the roster of fresh trainees is the son of his friend who passed away during their time in Top Gun. Hounded by fear, guilt, and a need for redemption, Cruise embodied emotions that were mostly absent in his other movies.
This shift in the pacing and feels of the movie was a nice break from the high adrenaline action sequences. It provided that much-needed breather before the next high.
Top Gun: Maverick easily set the bar for action movies with incredible stunts and use of real action footages. It ticked the box for both excitement and narrative. This is partly due to the performances of its stellar cast including Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Glenn Powell, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Ed Harris. It has been awhile for a movie to literally blow me away but this movie is outstanding in every way. It would be a robbery not to experience it at the biggest screen possible, which for my case, in IMAX.
Score: 10/10
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
