As any avid cinephile will tell you, a film’s original score or theme song has the power to ground that film into a classic. Top Gun from 1986 has this distinction, not just from making that film a classic, but because the theme song went on to be called Top Gun Anthem. It starts with the synthesised but faint chime of a church bell, before the melody escalates into a crescendo of 80s instrumental rock music. As symbolic as it sounds, the church bell here is a dual tone for both grief and glory.
Calling Maverick a sequel would only be half-truth. From the moment you hear that synth church bell in the opening sequence, you feel like the last 30 odd years didn’t happen. It even begins with a frame-by-frame recreation of the original film’s iconic intro on the decks of an aircraft carrier. We see the silhouettes of navy personnel dispatching and receiving warplanes against a low-lit but vivid sky, followed by a familiar text caption explaining the US Navy’s weapons school programme. This sequence is more than just the cool beginning of Top Gun: Maverick, this is the start of an instantly familiar feeling that will immerse you into nostalgia for over 80 percent of the film’s running time.
Making this umbilical connection to such a beloved film in the first few minutes, especially after 35 years, is both risky and rewarding at the same time. Part of that nostalgia also includes flimsy one-liners and corny jokes among characters, but also a half-baked and implausible story. And part of that is an inside joke as to why Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is still Captain, while most of his colleagues are either top brass or have retired. Only Tom Cruise can answer that question with the cocky recklessness but Godlike flying skills of the legendary Maverick. Which is why Maverick has to now train a bunch of crème de la crème navy pilots for a daring mission that is pure suicide. Although the “enemy” country is never mentioned, encountering a Mi-24 SuperHind and fifth generation MiGs during the mission tells us the objective is in Ivan’s backyard. But sending navy pilots without hardened combat experience in last generation F/A-18 Hornets against the aforementioned enemy, in a mission impossible mission, is like taking a knife to a gun fight. Implausible narrative silliness, but who cares, right?
Then comes the remaining 20 percent with fresh content – grief and glory, and a lot of closure. One of the advantages of such a long gap after the first film, is that screenwriters can now fill in the blanks. One is the introduction of “Rooster”, son of “Goose”, who Maverick lost to an accident in the first film. Prepare for some emotive tantrums and chip-off-the-shoulder baggage between Maverick and Rooster (Miles Teller). The other is probably the most genuine, bitter-sweet, heart-breaking moment in the entire film and easily the best, and this is when Maverick visits and old friend – Iceman. I won’t say anymore. Glory is reserved for the last 30 odd minutes and it’s a high octane adrenaline rush for the audience as well as Maverick and his team. Even if it’s big bucks CGI, it just feels real. Unlike recent blockbusters with mind-numbing visual effects and eye-popping camera angles (looking at you Marvel movies), Top Gun: Maverick has some of the best white-knuckle air combat displays ever seen in a film, and it all feels real. Tom’s cruising charisma does the rest. All you have to do is sit back, buckle up and enjoy your supersonic flight with 100 percent fan service.
