Director: Joseph Kosinski
Writers: Jim Cash(based on characters created by), Jack Epps Jr.(based on characters created by), Peter Craig(story by)
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm
Love him or hate, there’s no doubting that Tom Cruise is an absolute movie star. He could be one of the most hard working men in the movie business, putting 110% into all his films. 36-years-in-the-making, the sequel to the 1986 film, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has been tasked with a huge challenge; taking a sequel more then a decade after the original and making it a blockbuster. If there was one man who could do it, it would have to be Tom Cruise.
From Paramount and Skydance, and directed by Joseph Kosinski, the long-awaited sequel to the iconic film see’s Tom Cruise as the ultra-gifted and confident Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. After more than three decades of service, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is back at Top Gun as a teacher, tasked with training a group of its best graduates for a near-impossible mission. Along the way he’s confronted with some of his ghosts from the past, and the son of his long-dead best friend, who aims to fly in his father’s footsteps. Goose’s son is codenamed Rooster, played by the talented Miles Teller, carrying the swagger that Anthony Edwards did all those decades before.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ goes all in with it’s electrifying action sequences and high paced energy, it embodies eager to please entertainment that throws back to the fist-pumping, star-powered blockbusters of Hollywood’s 80s and 90s. Whenever the movie is in the air, it’s genuinely exhilarating stuff. The aerial sequences were filmed at Cruise’s insistence, without digital effects and using real planes. The actors trained for g-force conditions, and in many instances operated the cockpit cameras themselves. Learning all this prior to entering this screening gave me more appreciation for this movie, and may have made me actually enjoy it more. Take a look below and learn about the filming of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’…
I have to give some honorable mention to the supporting cast. Hangman (Glen Powell), Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Payback (Jay Ellis) and Rooster (Miles Teller), are engaging enough to be able to carry this franchise on without Cruise. After the screening I couldn’t help think that they may actually take the reigns on to a ‘Top Gun 3’.
So what can one expect from Top Gun: Maverick? There are chases, dog fights, and hotshot moves that’ll have even those of you who know nothing about planes it awe of the artistry. The sound design is so intense that the engine’s roar will literally shake your seats. The immersive cinematography takes us into the cockpit, giving us a god like view of every beat of danger, defeat, and victory.
As all the positive reviews so far have indicated, if there’s one movie you have to take yourself to the cinema’s to watch, it has to be ‘Top Gun : Maverick’. If anything Tom Cruise has proved once again he can take his audience for one hell of a ride.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is in cinemas now