Rating of
3/4
"Come on Mav do some of that pilot Shit!"
Matthew Brady - wrote on 06/28/22
'Top Gun: Maverick' manages to achieve the impossible when it comes to modern summer movies, and that's finding the perfect balance of crowd-pleasing entertainment and a quality movie.
I originally had no interest or excitement for this movie and wasn't planning on seeing it in the cinema, until I saw the glorying reviews it received that convinced me to check it out, and I'm glad I did.
This was the most satisfying movie experience of the year.
All the flying sequences...well, it took my breath away. But surprisingly the story had a lot of heart to it, and some emotional scenes that I didn't expect to strike a chord with me. It keeps you on your toes and it's entertaining throughout. It's got heart, humour, and most of all a sense of freedom.
Tom Cruise is fantastic in this by the way. He's a great action star but the movie reminds us of his dramatic chops.
I also like the fact that this movie openly acknowledges that he is getting old. Unlike the 2017 movie 'The Mummy', where one of Russell Crowe's lines refers to Cruise's character as a "young man", despite Cruise being two years older than him. I mean, he looks so good for his age, but there's one scene in this movie where he's shirtless on a beach and he's got that body of someone approaching 60.
The chemistry between Jennifer Connelly and Cruise was electrifying and believable.
Also, how the movie handled Val Kilmer's character and how they wrote Kilmer's real health condition into the movie was beautifully handled.
You don't need to see the first movie to understand what's going on in this one. It's a sequel that doesn't rely too much on nostalgia. The sequel is a massive improvement over the original, while at the same time it respects the 1986 film and director Tony Scott.
Overall rating: 'Top Gun: Maverick' is one of the biggest surprises of the year. With this being Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film of all time, I can see why, as there's something re-watchable about it.
