Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Okay, I know my opinion on Maverick is going to be an outlier. People love this film, and that’s good. But I was mostly bored, similarly to how I felt during the original film, and there are things that stuck in my craw that just made me not really enjoy this predictable and formulaic film. I get that for people who love Top Gun, the sense of nostalgia will overwhelm them and good on them. But for those who don’t have a love for the 1980s celebration of militarism, well, not much will feel better here.

Basically Maverick is the same film as Top Gun. For those who want the same film recycled with a younger cast you get your wish. Tom Cruise seems to be in the phase of his career where he only takes roles that point out what a legend he is. Whether its this or the Mission Impossible franchise, Cruise walks on to the set and everything in the film reminds us that he is a superhero. His “faults” are the kind of faults we all give when we do a job interview, the kind that people can’t help but love us for. Maverick isn’t a deconstruction of Pete Mitchell its a lionization of him.

Its also, like its predecessor, a lionization of American military dominance in the world. The mission is never questioned in its righteousness. The will of the Pentagon is never challenged. That’s not what these movies are about. This is about a specific kind of heroism which bugged me throughout. I knew it going in but it still rubbed me the wrong way.

 

And the homoeroticism, while still present, was toned down. This was the ONE thing the first film had going for it. I mean there are still a bunch of sweaty shirtless men banging into each other in the sunset (with one woman thrown in for good measure) but there is less of the bromance energy than the first film (which is pretty much inevitable since the first was dripping in it).

But in the end it was the lack of stakes that mostly disappointed me. The film isn’t brave enough to cost us anything. The heroes save the day as we pretty much know they will. The character arcs are all telegraphed from the opening scenes and we all know just how its going to go down. And it does exactly as we expect. 

To be fair, that’s okay. We buy out ticket and we know what we are going to get. It is like ordering at McDonald’s. The menu is the menu is the menu. It’s just not what I am craving. I get that its popular and I get that its satisfying in that easy way, it’s just not what I’m craving. 

Top Gun: Maverick

Starring: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, John Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Monica Barbaro, Tom Skerritt

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Writers: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie