Top Gun Review

 

“I feel the need… the need for speed!” is perhaps the most iconic line from the 80s classic Top Gun exclaimed by naval aviators Maverick and Goose as they prepared for a flight above the skies. Maverick of course was played by Tom Cruise, who was only 24 at the time of the release of Top Gun, was already a movie star in the making and his career has only gotten bigger over the last few decades. Cruise’s character Lt. Pete Mitchell who goes by the call sign “Maverick”, is a young reckless hotshot naval aviator who along with his wingman Goose (Anthony Edwards) gets sent by their commanding officer played by Principal Strickland from Back to the Future, to Top Gun an elite flying school to make the best of the best of naval aviators into even better pilots. Along the way, Maverick encounters friction with another pilot at the school, Iceman, played by Val Kilmer, and enters into a romance with his unbeknownst to him at the time, flight instructor Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis. Top Gun really does act as a coming-of-age story but instead of it being set via the lens of high school or college, this picture showcases the character arc of growing up and taking on more responsibility as a man with Cruise’s character as he serves his country in class and style flying jets. 

 

 

The core of Top Gun is really centered with Maverick’s learning of life lessons with him dealing with an escalating romance with his flight instructor to dealing with the death of his wingman, leaving a wife (Meg Ryan) and child behind, much to Maverick’s regret and sense of overbearing guilt. However, even with all the heavy dramatic themes being explored Top Gun emphasizes the joy, thrill, and excitement of living like no other picture. This is on full display in the movie’s tone with everything from its classic “Danger Zone” theme song to the adventurous daredevil pursuits of Maverick and his fellow naval aviators in the skies and their fierce competitive spirit in the classroom to the series of flirtatious and silly interactions between Maverick and his love interest Charlie, effectively bringing to life a fun and adventurous spirit for all to enjoy the ride. Cruise was already proving himself as a talented dramatic actor back in the 80s and that was certainly the case here as he had no problem pulling off the the hotshot and brazen but at the same time likable and charismatic persona of Maverick while also conveying the emotions of a young man coming to terms with insurmountable life events that would be defining moments for his character. 

 

The aftermath of Goose’s death really takes its toll on Maverick and causes him to lose confidence in his abilities as a pilot preventing him from engaging in the field and he's all ready to quit the life of a naval aviator until his mentor, "Viper", steps in to show him the right way forward. Inspired and motivated to make a change he finishes off Top Gun school with graduation and engages into battle on an urgent flight mission called in, at the third act of the movie allowing Maverick to face his fears and re-engage in the field. He even ends up winning Charlie back after previously pushing her away while in his period of self-inflicted exile and thus things move forward from there as Maverick having proved himself a legendary pilot at a young age in the third act is given his pick of assignments to which he winningly remarks to his commanding officer (Principal Strickland) he's thinking about going back to Top Gun to serve as an instructor, much to the amusement of his CO who has seen this reckless aviator at the beginning of the film stand before him evolved into a more mature world-wise young man.

 

 

Top Gun may be a product of the 80s but it certainly hasn’t faded from the popular culture lexicon and deservedly so as the excitement and fun of Top Gun is embodied in all of its scenes via its action, its humor, its warmth, its charm, and overarching heart. In my mind, it's a dynamic coming-of-age story set in the world of naval aviators and a film that will most likely live successfully in reruns for decades more to come. 

 

 

 However, that is not all that will be of Top Gun’s legacy because after 35 years its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick is finally coming to theaters. Cruise’s career after Top Gun certainly took off whether it was films such as the Mission Impossible franchise or A Few Good Men, Michael Mann’s Collateral seeing Cruise as a charismatic bad guy, and a plethora of other films but interest always remained alive in a sequel to Top Gun. The original director Tony Scott began development on a sequel in 2010 but those plans fell apart after his suicide sadly. Years passed, and eventually, development got back on track with Cruise hiring Joseph Kosinski as director and Mission Impossible 5-8 director/writer Christoper McQuarrie contributing to the script of Top Gun: Maverick. Cruise remarked in a 2017 interview that the film would be in the spirit of the original with it being a competition film with the inclusion of jets… but a progression for Maverick. 

 

 

That's what really fascinates me about Top Gun: Maverick which was originally slated to release in the summer of 2019 before being delayed to 2020 to allow for additional time to work on the script and plan flight scenes and was delayed yet again multiple times up into the fall of 2021 due to COVID. Based on the trailers for Top Gun: Maverick, Maverick is no longer a young hotshot lieutenant but now a seasoned Captain with a legendary career spanning decades. Cruise’s other most iconic character Ethan Hunt also has had a decades-long legendary career in the action film franchise Mission Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick seems to be executing the Top Gun version of the Ethan Hunt character in terms of legendary and iconic status. Maverick is a Captain but as noted by his peers in an early trailer for the movie Maverick is such a legend in the naval aviation game he should easily be an Admiral by now; however, Maverick is still a young hotshot pilot at heart and won’t give up flying jets for a desk job so that's what keeps him in the action in the sequel. This will be an interesting character facet to explore in the story and it will be fascinating to see if Maverick’s stance toward becoming an Admiral will alter at all during the course of the sequel.

 

 

What's also interesting is that this film will see multiple new characters including Goose’s son as played by Miles Teller. Maverick is no doubt haunted by his past still and him getting the chance to train his dead best friend’s son as a pilot may be the perfect opportunity for him to get closure for good and move on. One of the other Top Gun students in the picture will be a fighter pilot who goes by the call sign "Hangman" and played by Glen Powell and before he was cast in that role he was up for the role of Goose's son before he lost out on the role to Miles Teller but Cruise and everybody else liked him so much they wrote a part for him specifically in the movie so it should be intriguing to see what Powell's role will add to the film supported by his acting chops that landed him the job. It should be of no surprise that Val Kilmer will be returning as Iceman, Maverick’s foe turned ally in the original Top Gun. Val Kilmer has had a lot of health issues over the years so his role probably won’t be very big but will probably be relatively meaningful no matter how brief his role is. Also of note, Jon Hamm and Ed Harris as supporting characters in the form of Admirals and Maverick’s superiors in the film which will make for an interesting dynamic onscreen between Cruise and these talented players. Cruise starred opposite Harris almost 30 years ago in the legal thriller, The Firm (1993), so it will be fascinating to see those two together again onscreen. Not only that but the tension between a perpetual Captain and Admirals who see Maverick as a loose cannon will be a lot of fun to watch while at the same time rich character material.

 

 

 Finally, I can’t talk about this sequel without mentioning his new love interest, Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly as it seems Kelly McGillis won’t be returning for the sequel. Jennifer Connelly is an incredible and beautiful actress with a magnetic presence that really captivates your attention as she proved in films like The Rocketeer (1991), and the original Hulk (2003). Her character is described as a single mother, bar owner, sailor, and daughter of a former admiral so it sounds like there's a lot of potentially rich material to be explored there onscreen. Besides that in the original Top Gun a couple of references are made to Maverick's brief romance with an admiral's daughter and in one of those instances the reference is made by Goose's wife played by Meg Ryan who mentions the time Maverick got himself involved with the admiral's daughter, Penny Benjamin. So it sounds like Maverick will find himself getting back together with Penny after a previous reckless youthful indiscretion decades previous. Though it will be interesting to see if in the opening of the movie Maverick and Penny have been dating again for a while or if they are only just now crossing paths with each other again and starting romance anew. Regardless with Jennifer Connelly in the role its sure to be a fun and intensely charming character to match wits against Maverick. With the progression of Cruise’s character Maverick, it will be interesting to see if Maverick decides to end his single days in his late 50s and finally get married to the Jennifer Connelly character and how that dynamic will unfold. Beyond Maverick's romance life his backstory could be further fleshed out by expanding on the story of his missing naval aviator father from the first movie with the sequel potentially being able to answer the question of whether Maverick ever found out what happened to his father or not. One last thing to note is naval aviation is questioned by its relevance these days in the age of drones and it does indeed look like Top Gun: Maverick will be exploring that terrain with the trailers showing Maverick in astronaut-like looking gear which raises more questions but also adds more intrigue to the picture all the more. 

 

 

So, in conclusion, Top Gun is a stellar 80s classic that serves as an excellent and incredibly exciting fun coming-of-age story that really explores the themes of patriotism, competition, romance, and tragedy with incredible flair and with the release of its sequel Top Gun: Maverick in theaters this November, there is a lot of story possibilities to look forward to. Top Gun: Maverick will be able to bring the same fun adventurous spirit of the first movie back to life but also address the questions of naval aviators relevancy in the age of drones and how has Maverick evolved as a man over the last 35 years and what kind of man will he become moving forward as a result of the events of Top Gun: Maverick? Tom Cruise will be 59 years old at the time of the release of Top Gun: Maverick but as his stunts in the Mission Impossible movies and his recent announcement about getting ready to go up to outer space to shoot an action film have shown Cruise isn’t slowing down any time soon and age is just a number and state of mind. And did I forget to mention that Tom Cruise who does all his own stunts is having all the actors playing the pilots in the movie perform all their own stunts as well? That means they were all put through months of flight training, which means no CGI, and genuine reality adding gravity and real high-octane action to the proceedings to say the least. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for my review of Top Gun: Maverick this November.