May 27 2022

Top Gun: Maverick

Serving over thirty years as one of the Navy’s top fighter pilots, Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (Tom Cruise), finds himself chosen to be an instructor for Top Gun, the elite school for fighter pilots; but, the training and wisdom he will impart will be his final post. Overshadowing his mission is the reconciliation between multiple friends, family, and lovers. To thread the needle further will require the best dog fighting and diplomacy Mitchell has ever had to employ, will it be enough to bring him and his students home? Written by a team of writers based on characters from Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. and story by Peter Craig and Directed by Joseph Kosinski this beast of a blockbuster, delayed to theatres for nearly three years due to the pandemic, is poised to demonstrate the power that Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise are able to wield over the film going population. Narratively this incarnation of Top Gun parallels its 1986 predecessor at nearly every turn, although this go round we’re given a shred more raison d’etre and depth to Mitchell’s character, and, conveniently we’re given closure to a handful of loose ends along the way. But in reality, it’s not character development we’re after here, it’s F-18 fighter jets, sound barrier breaking iron winged angels screaming across the sky in glorious formation performing combat maneuvers to dizzy the senses, that’s what we’re here for, to that end, you’ve come to right place. With impeccable cinematography and a noted minimal amount of CGI trickery, this is a film that indeed begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible with the most immersive sound one can fathom. Bottom line, it’s a Tom Cruise action flick, and, love him or hate him, his films are crowd pleasing mega hits for a reason, this one’s no less. Running two hours and eleven minutes Top Gun: Maverick is rated PG-13.