Top Gun: Maverick
Impressive as the practical effects are in Top Gun: Maverick, they don’t quite make up for its atmospherically thin writing and an ensemble fully on autopilot.
As has been the case across the career of director Joseph Kosinski (Only the Brave; TRON: Legacy), there’s little to fault on a visual level as we catch up with Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) nearly four decades after his training at the elite Navy fighter pilot school known as Top Gun.
Essentially unchanged, Maverick continues to defy orders, push limits, and get in trouble, only to be bailed out by rival-turned-ally Adm. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), and the thrilling action sequences that showcase his rogue nature are bound to elevate the heart rates of even the biggest Cruise haters.
But on the ground, screenwriters Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and serial Cruise enabler Christopher McQuarrie struggle to craft drama worthy of filming. None of the current pilots and officers at Top Gun — where Ice Man sends Maverick to train the latest hot shots for a dangerous mission — are developed beyond a singular trait (if that), and Maverick’s colleagues are reduced to those who like or dislike his style.
One might think that Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s dearly departed co-pilot Goose (Anthony Edwards), might hold Maverick responsible for his father’s death, but the impetus for their beef is far less compelling. And though the cocky Hangman (Glen Powell, Everybody Wants Some!!) proves an effective instigator within the squadron, good luck remembering any of the other young guns.
The exception may be Phoenix (Monica Barbaro, The Good Cop), who’s notable for being the team’s lone woman and, in an unintentionally (?) sexist twist, in need of a weapon systems officer, which makes the decidedly non-cocky WSO, Bob (Lewis Pullman, Bad Times at the El Royale), partially memorable by association.
Elsewhere, Ed Harris and Jon Hamm appear bored going through the military officer motions, and while Jennifer Connelly’s presence is certainly welcome, her Penny Benjamin’s romance with Maverick is one of several relationships that do little to develop our hero beyond his hotdogging ways.
Sure, Maverick breaks down when Rooster takes to the piano in Penny’s bar, starts playing “Great Balls of Fire,” and sends the elder pilot on a trip down memory lane with his fallen friend, but the heavy-handed, slowed-down use of footage from Top Gun feel extraneous and intrude on Cruise’s scattered attempts at dramatic depth.
Top Gun: Maverick hits its emotional peak, however, in a touching reunion between Maverick and Iceman that nicely adapts to Kilmer’s recent health issues. The exchange shows that both actors can still wow audiences with their gifts and provides a welcome respite from the less-palatable aspects of Maverick’s mission.
Vague references to “the enemy” carry advantages over naming a specific antagonist country, but the basic “Good guys vs. Bad guys” nature of the op brings its jingoism to the forefront and the film’s military propaganda element grows increasingly icky in the buildup to — and throughout — the covert raid.
But as with such recent uneven action fare as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Godzilla vs. Kong, the highs are so memorable and the climax so energetic that many viewers will leave the theater clinging to those moments, not the clunky strands holding them together. Maverick’s ingenuity in the cockpit can’t help but entertain all but the stodgiest moviegoers, and the enduring appeal of one of Cruise’s most iconic roles deserves…well, not all the flowers, but definitely a bouquet or two.
Grade: B-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Scott Garfield /Paramount Pictures)
