Top Gun: Maverick - An Even Better and More Entertaining Sequel to the 1986 Hit Movie

I have been meaning to see this movie with my wife for many days but due to some reasons, we only managed to do so yesterday. As it was a sequel to the 1986 hit movie and both of us have forgotten the story, we preferred to watch the original first. Fortunately, it was available on HBO Go, so we could refresh our memory again. All right, let's get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise - American Made, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back etc) who was working as a test pilot was ordered to be instructor in Top Gun program to train some pilots for a special mission, despite the irritation of Vice Admiral Cyclone (Jon Hamm - Bad Times at the El Royale, No Sudden Move etc). Maverick who was reluctant at first, finally agreed to do so after he was convinced by his old rival/friend Admiral "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer - Batman Forever, The Saint etc). Maverick also met with Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly - Snowpiercer TV series, Hulk etc) who was close with him many years ago.

Due to the almost impossible & absolutely dangerous mission, Maverick was very hard on the candidates that included Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller - Thank You for Your Service, Get A Job etc) the son of his best friend Goose, the cocky Hangman (Glen Powell - Hidden Figures, Scream Queens TV series etc), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro - Unreal TV series etc), Bob (Lewis Pullman - The Strangers: Prey at Night, Catch-22 Mini series etc) and few others. And things were not going smoothly either as he had to face so many challenges.

So how would the story conclude? You can find them all in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Now that was a truly exciting and entertaining action movie. This film has really got it all, from engaging characters, intense action, dramatic & touching moments and quite spectacular plane fights. From the opening sequence with that Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone" song which resembled the first movie a lot (my wife later read that it was indeed intentional by the director), I already had a good feeling about this. Then once Maverick appeared as the test pilot, his on screen charm immediately fill the theater. Btw considering it was more than 30 years since the original movie, my wife and I were in awe that he did not change that much and only looked more mature.

As the story progressed and we were introduced with the top pilots, it was refreshing and intriguing to see how they would be the people Maverick train. Oh and the inclusion of Penny Benjamin was a very nice touch and Jennifer Connelly was a joy to see as she had wonderful chemistry with Tom Cruise. In addition to those names mentioned above, there were also some more names as support characters such as Ed Harris (Westworld TV series, The Truman Show etc) as Admiral Hammer, Charles Parnell (All My Children TV series etc) as Admiral Warlock, Danny Ramirez (No Exit etc) as Fanboy, Jay Ellis (Escape Room etc) as Payback, Bashir Salahuddin as Hondo and few others.

What made this movie felt better than the first one was it did not just modernize the airplanes and technology, but it also gave a real purpose. When my wife and I re-watched Top Gun few days earlier, it was fun and interesting with a bit of drama in the middle, but it was more exciting and suspenseful in the last half hour or so. The transition between the playful time to the dangerous mission felt kind of abrupt. Meanwhile in here we already knew from the beginning what was at stake. This made us felt a sense of urgency and suspense on whether or not they would be ready for the mission, which ultimately resulted to a way better climax. 

My wife and I and most of the audience were really full of emotions when seeing this movie. I lost count of how many times she clapped her hands or her eyes tearful with joy. We also laughed few times due to the humorous moments, such as that awkward moment involving Penny's daughter Amelia (Lilyana Wray) which also added the element of sweetness. Obviously the scenes involving all the planes were the main attraction and in here we were never short of them. They were mostly done in spectacular way which made me admire the movie more as the visual effects were really good. I could see so many names of the effects team and real life Navy pilots as consultants mentioned in the closing credits, which did not have any mid or post end credit scene. 

The background music was amazing as well, with the Top Gun anthem playing in various moments perfectly. I noticed the names Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer as the film's composer, with one song titled Hold My Hand sung by Lady Gaga herself playing during the end credit. The movie was directed by Joseph Kosinski (previous works including Tron: Legacy, Oblivion and few others). He replaced the late Tony Scott who had done an amazing job previously. Oh both of us also thought the movie could have had a different ending, but we still like how this ends too. 

Overall this was definitely one of the great movies to be seen on the big screen with awesome sound system. Sadly we were unable to experience it in Dolby Atmos as the Indonesian cinemas opted not to show them (unlike the pre-covid time where most blockbuster movies were released with such effects). The movie was really entertaining and having duration of 131 minutes did not seem that long at all with us feeling engaged during the whole time. So if you like Top Gun, you would definitely love this. But even if you have not seen that one, I am sure you would be able to enjoy it. Although I personally would recommend you watch the first movie to better appreciate the story and references here. 

Happy watching!

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars