Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Preceded by: Top Gun (1986)

	Directed by: Joseph Kosinski	COUNTRY USA GENRE Action/Drama NORWEGIAN TITLE Top Gun: Maverick RUNNING TIME 130 minutes
	Produced by: Jerry Bruckheimer Tom Cruise Christopher McQuarrie David Ellison
	Written by: Ehren Kruger Eric Warren Singer Christopher McQuarrie

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell	Tom Cruise	½
Tom "Iceman" Kazansky	Val Kilmer	-
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw	Miles Teller	½
Penelope "Penny" Benjamin	Jennifer Connelly
Beau "Cyclone" Simpson	Jon Hamm
Jake "Hangman" Seresin	Glen Powell	½
Natasha "Phoenix" Trace	Monica Barbaro	-
Robert "Bob" Floyd	Lewis Pullman	-
Chester "Hammer" Cain	Ed Harris	-
Solomon "Warlock" Bates	Charles Parnell	-
Reuben "Payback" Fitch	Jay Ellis	-

Review

Just when it seemed like it had rendered itself completely irrelevant with its obsessing over superhero franchises and remakes, Hollywood threw out this lifeline to the fast-diminishing population of adult moviegoers. And it was immediately rewarded with incredible box-office numbers. Unlike so many films in the action/adventure genre of recent years, Top Gun: Maverick is a proper movie – traditional escapism for long-time movie buffs – which is as enjoyable to see as it is a relief. Granted, we are talking about a sequel here, but it’s a sequel that stands firmly, independently, and confidently on its own feet as an apolitical, unironic, straightforward movie made with aesthetics and thrills in mind. And one of the reasons the action works so well is that it feels organic. CGI is used as a tool, not as a foundation, which makes a world of difference for how the flying action looks. From the minute Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is reintroduced, and once all the nostalgia has quieted down, Top Gun: Maverick gets into its slick, well-laid-out setup of fighter jet training, an exhilarating real-life mission, and only a semi-vapid romance between Maverick and Penny, played with a perpetual pose by Jennifer Connelly. Tom Cruise, on the other hand, looks amazing and gives one of the most compelling performances of his career. When Maverick is told by his old pal Iceman that "it's time to let go" and Cruise replies "I don't know how", the actor looks to be tapping into more real emotion than he has ever done before. I, for one, believe that Cruise might not know how to let go, but luckily there is no need to just yet.