Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

My Review

It took 36 years, but Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer finally came out with a sequel to “Top Gun” (1986) called “Top Gun: Maverick.” The storyline has Cruise’s Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell instructing younger Navy pilots. Their new set of skills are soon tested in an unexpected military operation. Director Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion” 2013) and his team of screenwriters filled this sequel with much more action sequences than there was in the original, and is considered by many to be of a higher quality than the original.

Val Kilmer reprised his role as Tom “Iceman” Kazanski, joined by newcomers Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, Monica Barbaro, Glen Powell, Manny Jacinto, and Charles Parnell as Rear Admiral Solomon Bates. Appearing in archive footage from the original “Top Gun” are Meg Ryan, Kelly McGillis, and Anthony Edwards. Sharing musical duties were Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, and Hans Zimmer.

The watchable “Top Gun: Maverick” was the second highest grossing film of 2022, earning well over a billion dollars for producers Bruckheimer and Cruise, Skydance Media, TC Productions, and Paramount Pictures. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning one for Best Sound. Non-winners include Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Song (“Hold My Hand” Lady Gaga & BloodPop), Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects. It was primarily filmed in San Diego, California. A sequel is reportedly in the works tentatively called “Top Gun 3.”