Script conference, Paramount Pictures
“Describe Maverick’s character.”/“Well, he pushes the envelope. He’s an envelope-pusher.”/“Great—that’s our first scene, right there: Maverick pushing the envelope. What else?”/“Well, he’s a …maverick.”/“There’s our second scene! Oh, and put a bar in it like the one in The Right Stuff.”
Top Gun: Maverick is a beat-by-beat reproduction of the first film about trainee fighter pilots, in which Maverick (Tom Cruise) has to adapt to his new role as instructor. According to the Navy top brass, his record is distinguished, but they keep telling him how much they dislike him. That doesn’t actually make sense.
“Iceman” (Val Kilmer) is now admiral of the fleet, but they still call him “Iceman.” “Goose” is dead because in real life the actor playing him lost his hair. Maverick’s backstory is recapped by the bartender love interest (Jennifer Connelly), just in case we can’t keep up. A bespectacled nerd-flyer spills beer on his crotch to foreshadow having his pool cue taken away minutes later by a bully called Coyote.
Everyone here is THE BEST THERE IS, which is the same as saying they’re nothing special. The twist is there is a woman in the batch, although she is demoted to background and forgotten about quickly, and for the rest of the movie. Training under Maverick consists, during the very first session, of going from no combat training to mock dogfights flown at very low level and going over your emotional baggage while spiralling downward toward the desert.
Tom Cruise has two acting modes—jubilant, and confused (probably representing deep emotion). There is nothing between these extremes. The tone here is mordant until the third act, though, so he never really breaks out of confused mode.
Director of the first movie Tony Scott jumped to his death from Golden Gate Bridge so wasn’t available to direct this one, but they copied his visual style, which includes much sunlight on tarmac and streaming through blinds onto the sides of faces, somewhat laboriously. Several scenes from the original are reproduced in their entirety.
This is movie-making by committee. Most of the dialogue is stolen from other movies, including a gratuitous “Don’t break her heart.” What Top Gun: Maverick has going for it is the action sequences, which look better than those of any other—even Tom Cruise movies—but its 2h 11m running time and downbeat tone dull your enjoyment. The only piece conspicuously missing from the jigsaw is a memorable power ballad.
FATAL VISIONS 