The Danger Zone: A Blast from the Past, Done Right... Top Gun: Maverick (REVIEW)

Despite a genuine liking for most—and big, big love for at least one*—Tom Cruise films, there was more than a little trepidation (as I struggled mightily to get comfy in an uncomfortable seat, while a ridiculous number of ads and trailers played on and on, all part of my reward? punishment? for the exorbitant $27 ticket price) about Top Gun: Maverick, last night. 

As a Gen Xer, I saw Top Gun when it hit the movieplexes, and I was old enough to sort of appreciate the actual dangers which the slick flick only touched on (back when things were still dicey with Russia… erm, make that, back when we were still comfortable acknowledging out loud that things were dicey with Russia)… but plenty young enough not to feel any need to over-dissect anything. It was shiny and pretty and exciting, and that was enough.

Cut to three-and-a-half decades later, though, and TG:M has considerably more to answer for, from the likes of me—and probably also from a host of others who fell in love with the OG over the years. (We’ve all seen so much, by now… to the point that “jaded” doesn’t even begin to cover it.) 

TG was a great one-and-done movie, for what it was… made back in an era when even a mega-popular movie could still be a one-and-done. But, it turns out, TG:M was the movie I didn’t even know we kinda-sorta needed today.

Does TG:M deliver anything new? Nope. Were there any twists I didn’t see coming from a mile away? Not even close. Did it tick all the boxes—killer action sequences, romantic interest, macho posing, close calls, tearjerker moments? Yup, every single expected beat was there, present and accounted for, in formulaic glory. 

So, you may be asking [I mean, good lord, I hope you’re asking], how on earth can it be a really good film, given the above? 

Let me put it this way. You know the trend in Hollywood to take a popular—heck, these days, even a marginally-popular—movie, and remake it, same exact story? (And yes, spare me the arguments in favor of doing so: “We’re making [whatever] for a new generation of younger people, who never saw the original!!1!” Pffft. That’s a mighty poor excuse for being lazy and the opposite of creative... but I digress.) 

Well, turns out there’s a good way to revisit something: take the original story, and continue it. Add to it. Even if the result shares similarities with the source, it’s still fresh content, with new characters and different situations. (And, oh, I dunno… maybe that “new generation” will like the modern continuation so much, some of them might even—gasp!—seek out the OG, to get the backstory. Stranger things have happened, y’all.)

TG:M works fine as a standalone, too; you could watch it as a total newbie (regardless of whatever generation you were born into), and enjoy a complete story without ever feeling lost or left out. (Of course, if you’ve seen the original—one time, a dozen, a hundred—you’ll get an extra thrill every time there’s a little callback to the first film… delivered in ways that even somehow manage, for the most part, to feel more organic than fan service-y.)

Fantastic clutching-your-armrests-and-holding-your-breath action sequences. An easy-to-follow story. Believable performances of relatable characters. A heart-tugging cameo. All of it adds up to make this an easy, hearty recommendation for a wide variety of audiences… and a sentimental fave, to boot.

~GlamKitty

*(did you even notice the asterisk, way up top? well, if so, here you go…;)) One of my absolute favorite movies, ever, is The Firm… but I’ve actually seen more Tom Cruise films than I can even count, multiple times. Color me a fan, I guess.