Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick
Original title:Top Gun: Maverick
Director:Joseph Kosinski
Release:Cinema
Running time:131 minutes
Release date:27 may 2022
Rating:
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Maverick Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is right where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a brave test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would punish him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no pilot alive has ever seen, Maverick meets Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), whose call sign is Rooster: Rooster, the son of Maverick's late friend and radar intercept officer, Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, a.k.a. Goose. Faced with an uncertain future and the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice of those chosen to fly it.

Mulder's Review

To my father,

It can't be said enough that a movie must be seen in a movie theater and even with the expansion of streaming platforms like Paramount+, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and HBO max nothing can replace the feeling of seeing a movie in a huge theater and certainly Top Gun: Maverick deserves to be seen in the best theaters in Los Angeles, Paris and other cities around the world. We couldn't dream of a better film to enjoy the latest technical prowess of our movie theaters, whether it's a gigantic screen like the one at UGC Normandie or our favorite movie theater, the IMAX room at Disney Village in Disneyland Paris. Among the many most expected movies of this year, Top Gun: Maverick was certainly the one on which we had the highest expectations. It is not by chance that the film is dedicated to the memory of Tony Scott, director of the first film released in 1986, which imposed Tom Cruise as one of the world's greatest film stars (the eighth of this actor who is always ready to push his limits to the great pleasure of the audience).

We had to wait thirty-six years to discover the sequel of the film Top Gun and find the character Pete Maverick Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in the cinema. While some of the sequels are just a simple transfer of the original film, or even a remake in disguise, this film, which not only benefits from a perfectly mastered script written by Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Christopher McQuarrie and Eric Warren Singer, chooses the right angle to incorporate the time variable to show the evolution of an outstanding daredevil pilot who takes a real pleasure in flying fighter planes. After an introduction that pays tribute to the first film and shows us that the main character is a true pop culture icon, whether it's his jacket, his motorcycle or his way of living without really caring about the dangers inherent to his job. The first scene of the film puts as Top gun an aerial prowess but then turns different making the student pilot in the first film an instructor having to train gifted pilots to a very perilous mission. This team of experienced young pilots also includes the son of his teammate Goose who died in a serious air crash, Lieutenant Bradley Rooster Bradshaw (Miles Teller).

So, after more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete Maverick Mitchell (Tom Cruise) has established himself as the best test pilot and has managed to avoid a promotion in rank that would have grounded him. When he's called back to Top Gun, it's to find himself training a detachment of today's top recruits for a specialized mission the likes of which no pilot alive has ever seen. Faced with an uncertain future and the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice of those chosen to carry it out. Even if the film takes some elements from the first film, notably by a long training phase before a perilous mission, this one easily surpasses the original film, notably by aerial scenes never seen before in cinema. The numerous feats of the film and the involvement of a gifted director (Tron: Legacy (2010), Oblivion (2013), Only the brave (2017)) make Top Gun: Maverick a real and intense cinematographic experience (the numerous applause of the spectators at different moments of the film show that this film is destined to become as cult as the original film).

Top Gun: Maverick avoids being a simple blockbuster. It finds all the suffering of the great Hollywood films in which the goal was not to propose spectacular and outrageous special effects or to propose works with a scenario so simplistic that it seems only to serve to put forward actors adored by a large public and taking no real risk. The numerous aerial scenes would have been impossible a few years ago, so much so that they testify to a desire to remain realistic at all times. This same care is felt in the costumes and military traditions. This attention to detail easily strengthens our support and once again Tom Cruise literally bursts onto the screen, whether in scenes paying homage to the first film or showing that, despite the passage of time, this actor remains one of the last great popular Hollywood actors and, above all, one who listens to his audience. This same attention to detail allows us to put a face on a certain daughter of an admiral, Penny, whose relationship with Pete Maverick Mitchell had caused this pilot a lot of trouble. This woman raising her daughter alone became the owner of a local bar frequented by Top Gun pilots. The couple played by Jennifer Connelly and Tom Cruise works wonderfully and a real chemistry between them is visible on screen. Moreover, we also appreciate to find the time of a scene the actor Val Kilmer who played the rival of Pete Maverick Mitchell in Top Gun.

The psychological dimension of the characters is at the very center of the film and gives the main characters a real aura. If you look at the character of Pete Maverick Mitchell, he is the personification of the true American hero who is not looking to become rich and famous at any time. His only desire is to be able to continue doing what he is best at, which is driving. Some of the confrontations between this character and his superiors remind us of another icon of American cinema, Harry Callahan, who is not a stickler for rules, but rather listens to his instincts and solves difficult cases even if it means losing his job.  In the same way, whether it is the training of the pilots or the aerial scenes, it is impossible not to think of the Star Wars universe (an idea reinforced by the last minutes of the film recalling the landscape of Hoth. We won't go so far as to compare Pete Maverick Mitchell to a Jedi, but as he teaches his students to surpass themselves and to listen to their instincts, it's impossible not to think about it.

Certainly Top Gun: Maverick reaches perfection on many levels and stands out as a classic of American cinema. This film has a real soul which can currently have and especially continue to show that Tom Cruise is indeed a gifted actor capable of taking real risks by doing his stunts as well as appearing realistic as a fighter pilot. We can't wait to see him again, especially to discover this movie in IMAX to celebrate the importance of seeing movies in theaters and especially to share a movie with other spectators who grew up like us in front of Top Gun and for whom Tom Cruise is one of the best current actors, a Hollywood star without equal.

Top Gun: Maverick
Directed by Joseph Kosinski
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger
Written by Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Christopher McQuarrie, Eric Warren Singer
Based on Characters by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.
Starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris
Music by Harold Faltermeyer and Hans Zimmer
Cinematography : Claudio Miranda
Edited by Chris Lebenzon
Production company : Skydance Media, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, TC Productions, Tencent Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date : May 25 2022 (France), May 27 2022 (United States)
Running time : 131 minutes

Seen on May 19, 2022 at the UGC Normandie, room 01

Mulder's Mark: