Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Sequels are usually disappointing, overshadowed by the original. But it is no overstatement to say that Top Gun: Maverick surpasses the 1986 film. Thirty-six years later, Maverick is not a mere nostalgia trip — it is a complete, standalone film. My rating is ★4.5.

What it’s about — Maverick becomes an instructor 36 years later

Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is still a Navy pilot. Despite a legendary career, he has repeatedly refused promotion to stay in the field. One day he is tapped to return as an instructor at the Top Gun training school. The mission is not simple — he has sixty days to forge an elite team capable of executing a near-impossible low-altitude, high-speed strike. Among that team is Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s late wingman Goose.

Direction — The weight of gravity that real flight delivers

Joseph Kosinski’s best decision was insisting on practical, in-camera flying. The aerial combat sequences, shot with actors actually aboard aircraft, have a completely different physical feel from other action blockbusters. Unlike superhero films packed with digital compositing, the camera is inside the actual cockpit — so the weight of gravity comes through the screen. The carrier deck takeoff and landing sequences, and the passage through a mountain canyon at low altitude, are things that need to be seen on a theatrical screen. Carefully designed sound design contributes significantly as well.

And yet the film does not rest on spectacle alone. The conflict between Maverick and Rooster, the reunion with an old flame, Penny (Jennifer Connelly), and the dynamic of an analog hero standing before a digital generation all carry the first half of the film. The film’s structure consciously echoes the original Top Gun, but the emotional throughline is far more solid. If the original was about youth and showing off, Maverick is about aging and responsibility.

Performance — Cruise and Teller adding weight

Tom Cruise, approaching sixty, remains a perfect fit for this role. He keeps Maverick’s characteristic recklessness and confidence while adding the weight that only years of accumulation can bring. The moments when he pauses before a flight — the barely perceptible tremor in his expression before making a decision — are what give the character dimension.

Miles Teller handles Rooster’s difficult role with skill. It is a complex assignment — carrying the loss of a father and a complicated set of feelings toward Maverick simultaneously — but he maintains the balance without forcing it. The tension and eventual reconciliation between the two actors is the film’s emotional center.

What the film says — Aging, legacy, and what does not disappear

On the surface it is a mission film, but what this work is really talking about is aging and legacy. Maverick tries to prove “why pilots are needed” in an era of drones and AI — and that act is, itself, a struggle to preserve the value of his own generation. At the same time, watching over Goose’s son Rooster while trying to wash away his own past sin gives the film depth as drama beyond simple action. The original theme and Jerry Bruckheimer’s return to produce, and Val Kilmer’s Iceman reappearing in a moving way, are fan service — and simultaneously resonate with the film’s central theme. A story about things that do not disappear with time.

Ratings & reception

Top Gun: Maverick was the top-grossing film of 2022. TMDB scores it 8.2, IMDb also holds it at 8.2, and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 96% — essentially perfect. It received nominations in six Academy Award categories including Best Picture. Critics especially praised the commitment to practical photography and the film’s intelligence about how it consumes nostalgia. Audience response was equally warm. The design that allows viewers who never saw the original Top Gun to enjoy this film fully was a success.

What doesn’t quite work

The decision to intentionally obscure which country the adversary is has the effect of erasing the film’s real-world political context. It is an understandable commercial decision, but it remains a limitation. Also, certain moments in the late-film mission sequence resolve in ways that strain credulity; while the device serves the action entertainment’s satisfying payoff, it slightly chafes against the realistic tone built carefully in the first half.

Verdict

Top Gun: Maverick is a textbook example of what Hollywood blockbusters should be. Spectacular action, the physical pleasure of real photography, and a serious look at character and time are all contained within it. It also proves that a sequel should only be made when there is a genuine reason for it. My rating is ★4.5.

Recommended for

• Those who loved or have fond memories of the original Top Gun
• Anyone nostalgic for action films with no CGI
• Those looking for spectacular screen entertainment
• Those interested in father-son dynamics or generational conflict drama