Summer is upon us; and undoubtedly what is sure to be the biggest movie of the summer Top Gun Maverick roars into theaters this week. And OMG what an amazing thrill ride this one is. In my opinion, better than even the first one.
I remember sitting in the theater 36 years ago dumbfounded at the aerobatics I was observing these F-14 Tomcat fighter jets going through. As I kid I grew up watching them down at the Mira Mar Naval base where Top Gun was at the time as they flew over the 15 freeway. It was like getting a free airshow.
Seeing them on the big screen and seeing what they could do literally blew me away. I was reminded of this as I sat, slack jawed screening Top Gun Maverick for sure!
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
And boy was he ever pushing things. I will say, this movie has a lot more humor in it than the last one. Quite a few laughs to be had, both visually and some great lines to go with it.
Maverick finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”.
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it. And wow isn’t that mind blowing.
The greatness of this film is heightened knowing the actors were actually in the jets as they were being flown and had to go through rigorous training before they could even get into the Boeing F/A-18E and the 18F Super Hornet biggest difference one being a single seater the other a two seater.
We also get to meet the infamous Penny Benjamin we heard about in Top Gun but never actually saw, played by Jennifer Connelly.
I really don’t want to give up too much so here is a trailer. Grab yourself some popcorn and a drink and buckle in for the thrill ride of the summer. I wonder how much Navy recruitment will go up after people see this movie.
When they say it’s a love letter to aviation they aren’t playing. This movie gets a green light from us without a doubt.
- Rating: PG-13 (Some Strong Language|Sequences of Intense Action)
- Genre: Action, Adventure
- Original Language:English
- Director: Joseph Kosinski
- Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison
- Writer: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, Christopher McQuarrie
- Release Date (Theaters):May 27, 2022 Wide
- Runtime:2h 11m
- Distributor: Paramount Pictures
- Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital
- Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)