Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
It's an absolute statistical anomaly for a legacy sequel to not just match its predecessor but to utterly eclipse it. Yet here we are. I walked into Top Gun: Maverick carrying the reasonable scepticism of anyone who's sat through enough hollow nostalgia grabs, and I walked out genuinely stunned by how thoroughly Joseph Kosinski's film had won me over. I've had my thoughts on the original documented over at Top Gun (1986), and my feelings there are, let's say, mixed. Maverick, though, is something else entirely. It's superior to the 1986 film in practically every conceivable way, and I don't say that lightly.
Tom Cruise is back as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, dragged back into the cockpit to train a fresh group of elite pilots for a mission that borders on the suicidal. What makes it work so brilliantly isn't just the sheer spectacle, impressive as that is. It's the emotional weight Maverick carries with him. The guilt over the death of his best friend Goose hasn't faded; it's simply transferred, and it now sits squarely between him and Goose's son Rooster, played with real conviction by Miles Teller. That friction is the engine of the whole film, a character-driven tension that grounds everything around it.
I was genuinely struck by how the film handles its action. For a picture famous for its dogfights, there's actually only one major combat sequence across the entire runtime. The bulk of it is dedicated to the gruelling, high-stakes training regimen, and honestly, that's a braver choice than it might sound. It goes to show just how exciting a well-paced, properly told story can be without relying on a constant barrage of weightless effects work. The aerial sequences are breathtaking, and knowing they were captured practically rather than conjured on a computer makes them feel twice as visceral. But it's the quieter moments that stick with you. There's a scene between Cruise and Val Kilmer that I wasn't prepared for. Kilmer was battling throat cancer during production, and what ends up on screen carries that real-world weight without ever exploiting it. It caught me completely off guard, and I found it deeply moving.
Now, the narrative itself is fairly predictable. You know the beats of this kind of military underdog story before they even arrive. Kosinski and his writers are smart enough, though, to throw a couple of genuine curveballs towards the climax, shaking up the formula just enough to keep you leaning forward before bringing everything full circle back to that warm, familiar comfort. It's a confident piece of craft, knowing exactly when to push and when to settle back.
My one real gripe is the romantic subplot. The romance with Jennifer Connelly's character did absolutely nothing for me. It felt tacked on, frankly, like a box being ticked. I'm fairly confident the film could have excised that entire thread and remained the exact same, highly effective picture. It's a notable weak spot in an otherwise tight script.
But look, that's a minor frustration in the context of what this film gets right. This is a straightforward, adrenaline-fuelled blockbuster that knows exactly what it wants to be and executes it with near-flawless precision. It respects its legacy without being held hostage by it. The Cruise and Kilmer scene alone is worth the price of admission, a reminder that genuine human feeling, properly earned on screen, will always outperform spectacle on its own. Practical effects, a solid emotional core, and a story that actually bothers to care about its characters. It turns out that formula still works brilliantly when you commit to it.
Four stars. One of the best blockbusters of recent memory, and I'd argue one of the best sequels ever made.
Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 2022 | Watched: 2026-07-27
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Netflix · Paramount Plus Premium · Paramount Plus Essential · Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Rent: JustWatch TV · Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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