Top Gun: Maverick
Multiverses may be all the rage in the cinema of today, but they're unlikely to ever enjoy the lasting appeal of nostalgia. No matter how improbable or needless it might seem, Hollywood will never turn its nose up to rebooting a decades-old franchise. And audiences will almost always lap it up. For that reason, we've got ourselves a Top Gun sequel 36 years after the original was first released.
I have to admit, my expectations for this were pretty low. As a child of the 1990s, the 80s cheese that defined the original Top Gun were somewhat lost on me. Though you'll never hear me dispute that 'Take My Breath Away' is an absolute banger.
However, Top Gun: Maverick is a decidedly different film to its predecessor. I'm not sure if 'gritty' is the correct term to describe it, but it's definitely a more strait-laced affair. Tom Cruise is back as the titular protagonist whose renegade approach to flying makes him the scorn of his superiors but the envy of his colleagues. It’s arguably the perfect role for Cruise, who has mastered the ability to switch from a stiff upper lip to the foppish charm that made him a household name.
The film is mostly focused on the relationship between its hero and Rooster (Miles Teller), a prodigious but inexperienced pilot who just so happens to be the son of Goose, Maverick’s deceased best friend. It is a fairly typical dynamic but one that anchors the narrative and ensures that the film retains an emotional core, even as its high octane action sequences begin to kick in.
This is arguably the perfect vehicle for Cruise who really has monopolised this genre and consistently made it his own over an improbably long period of time. Though he is arguably a flawed individual, it’s inarguable that nobody does this type of shtick better than him. And, with yet another Mission Impossible film around the corner, it’s likely that he will continue to do so until the wheels come off.
It’s questionable whether the world needed another Top Gun film, but props to all involved for making it a far more engaging affair than your typical reboot.
