Why Top Gun: Maverick is more than just a summer blockbuster reboot

The long awaited Top Gun: Maverick screams into theaters this week after numerous COVID-19 related delays. Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer’s sequel to 1986’s cult classic love letter to Naval Aviation was set to come out in the fall of 2019 before the studio pushed it to ensure they had enough time to edit the intense flying sequences. The July 2020 release was pushed after the start of the pandemic, sliding right to December 2020 before moving to July 2021 and then November 2021 before landing on May 27, 2022.

It was worth the wait.

Top Gun: Maverick is the kind of movie made to watch on the absolute biggest screen possible. From the very first bell gong that signals you’re about to strap in for a high-flying adrenaline rush, Maverick moves Mach 10 from start to finish. There’s no real reason why this should work so well, but Bruckheimer and director Joe Kosinski manage to perfectly mesh just the right amount of nostalgia with the action and excitement of a new adventure.

The plot is straightforward: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is back — and don’t worry, they explain how he’s still active duty and only a Captain — and in charge of coaching up a group of Top Gun graduates for a seemingly impossible mission. Those graduates are (of course) the best of the best, and include Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Maverick’s former Weapon Systems Operator Goose. Rooster, played by Miles Teller, still holds a grudge against Mav for not only his potential role in his father’s tragic death but also for some drama around his application to the Naval Academy.

Teller didn’t get any time with Anthony Edwards, who played the iconic Goose, before the filming. Despite that, he does a remarkable job emulating his fictional father’s mannerisms in a way that immediately makes you think, “ah yes, I see this 100%.”

Although the plot is simple, it’s the perfect vehicle to bring the audience a plethora of just absolutely incredible aviation sequences. The utterly charming Glen Powell serves as cocky pilot Hangman, with Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Payback (Jay Ellis), Fanboy (Danny Ramirez), Coyote (Greg Tarzan Davis), and BOB (Lewis Pullman) all among those vying for the coveted mission spots.

All of the flying scenes are real, and Kosinski shot over 800 hours of footage to put together the finished product. Each actor was their own director in the cockpit, adding one more layer of complication to an already endlessly complicated process. He essentially had a collection of mini-directors, each responsible for controlling their own scenes mid-flight.

“It was the only way to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish, which was getting all of this footage for real in the Super Hornet,” Kosinski told For The Win during the Top Gun: Maverick press junket. “It was a lot of training, a lot of briefing, a lot of rehearsals on the ground…it was a team effort.”

The result is breathtaking.

In an era of sequels and nostalgic reboots, Top Gun: Maverick knocks it out of the park. It’s not just a good movie or a fun summer blockbuster; it’s the best blockbuster to hit theaters in the last decade. There’s drama, edge-of-your-seat excitement, emotion, and everything in-between. While it may not end up with the quotability of Top Gun’s “need for speed” or the classic “your ego is writing checks that your body can’t cash,” it is a sequel that honors the original and elevates it (literally) to a new level.

Get your tickets, grab your snacks and enjoy.