First Take: Top Gun Maverick - the need for speed is still real

SYNOPSIS: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete Mitchell is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.

1986. A year when ITV gave us a show called Catchphrase, the O-level was replaced by the GCSE, and a movie called Top Gun was unleashed upon the world, propelling a then 23 year old actor named Tom Cruise to the mainstream. He is now 60 (yes, really), and all these years later, in a sequel which very nearly didn’t happen due to the unfortunate passing of original director Tony Scott in 2012, he still knows how to command a proper big screen experience that packs an emotional punch.

Joseph Kosinski of Tron Legacy fame is in the directors chair, and he feels like the natural choice to take on a movie like this - he is able to create an incredibly well paced 2 hour 11 minute film that pays homage to the original, and take the story in new directions for this generation, quite literally mixing nostalgia with modern storytelling from the minute the Paramount logo appears on screen. Add to this a script from Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and a certain Christopher McQuarrie (who also produces the film alongside Mr Cruise) that has the old school 80s charm updated for a 2022 audience, some brilliant cinematography from Claudio Miranda, and a returning Harold Faltermeyer to score the film and provide a new version of *that* main theme with Hans Zimmer, Lorne Balfe and Lady Gaga, and there is something for both new and old fans of the franchise- from beach sports, epic opening sequences, to dogfights that deserve to be experienced on the biggest screens possible (having been shot on the now-legendary IMAX cameras).

On to the performances then, and we’ll start with the supporting roles first for a change - this is a stacked cast. While this is Cruise’s film, the real hero of the film is Miles Teller as Rooster - the son of Goose - who is arguably going to get a lot more big roles as a direct result of the work he does as this pivotal character. Joining him in the esteemed group of TOPGUN graduates for this generation is Monica Barbaro, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez and Craig Tarzan Davies, with higher ranks filled out by Jon Hamm, Ed Harris and a returning Val Kilmer, and moral support provided by franchise newcomer Jennifer Connelly. But teaching the new dogs old tricks is Tom Cruise, who even in his twilight years can make anything look cool - whether it is done in-camera or not. He’s making the movies he wants to make, and considering what was attached to the trailer reel beforehand (trailer 1 for next summer’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning) he ain’t slowing down anytime soon.

THE VERDICT

Maverick is perfect as a standalone film, which works even more powerfully alongside the original Tony Scott release - it truly is best enjoyed big, loud, and then even bigger and even louder. Mixing nostalgia with new talent, new technology and this generation’s cinemagoing habits, it’s one those movies which can put to bed rumours of cinema’s demise after two long years of reduced capacities.

RATING: 5/5