By Yasiri J. Kasango
In the first Top Gun, released in 1986, the US Navy’s fighter pilot Lt Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is accused of letting his ego write cheques his body can’t cash. But in the sequel, it’s clear that Maverick, played by Tom Cruise, has been cashing cheques with abandon for decades.
His pecs have set up standing orders. His biceps have been signing off on direct debits. His abs have been authorizing BACS transfers, and his rock-hard buttocks each have their own PayPal account. In short, as we return to Pete Mitchell’s extraordinary story, it’s clear that he’s still physically solvent, recklessly test-flying a colossal stealth fighter at Mach 10 against orders from his superiors in the opening scene.
Nearly 40 years after Tony Scott’s first movie, Maverick is still quick, less needy, more grounded and calm. In fact, more of both, but still enormously in shape and infatuated with flying.
With a script written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and longtime Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie, Joseph Kosinski known for his sci-fi and digital effects will take over directing duties.
Maverick should be an admiral by now, but he is still only a captain in the year 2022. Despite his badass demeanor, he is respected by real flyers and despised by pointy-headed brass. He is shielded by his long-lasting bromance with former classmate and rival Iceman, who is now an admiral. Val Kilmer willingly participates in it by making a cameo.
There will be two crises, one after the other. A Dam Busters-style raid on a secret nuclear enrichment facility must be carried out by the Navy’s top pilots.
The ticklish diplomatic task of ordering Maverick to train this new batch of cute hotheads without taking to the skies himself falls to commanding officer Cyclone (Jon Hamm). It gets trickier because one of the new recruits is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Goose (Anthony Edwards in the original film), Maverick’s sidekick and friend, who many people (including Rooster) still hold Maverick responsible for. However, you can’t hold Maverick down or be angry with him for too long.
The semi-nude, towel-around-the-waist intensity between the guys in the locker room, however, is nowhere to be found. The men who compete with one another but depend on one another? Anyway, nowhere. The arguments take place in more wholesome, public settings, mostly in Connelly’s bar and during a wholesome, friendly game of beach football for team-building. Because of this, his late father Goose is remembered by this movie as being more dominant than he actually was; in reality, Goose was a nerdier and more reserved type, more akin to this movie’s bespectacled comedy turn, Bob (Lewis Pullman). Glen Powell portrays a young, conceited pilot named Hangman, who has the difficult task of embodying the conceit of both the younger Iceman and the younger Maverick.
Cruise’s acting chops remain impressive, and he has a touching dialogue scene with Kilmer. Now I want to see him reprise the underpants dance in a sequel to Risky Business.
