Tom Cruise returns as Maverick in a sequel 36 years in the making that puts virtually every other action movie of late to shame.
“The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.”
“Maybe so, Sir. But not today.”
So said Tom Cruise to Hollywood…
Top Gun: Maverick was the movie we were promised would save cinema. More so than Christopher Nolan’s Tenet in 2020, producer and star Cruise promised audiences worldwide that Maverick was not a film to be missed on the big screen, and that it would help rejuvenate the global box office that had yet to properly recover from the pandemic (a certain Spider-Man film notwithstanding, as that was very much an anomaly at the time). We’d seen the trailers, and we thought we knew what we were in for… and then the film started screening for critics. The whispers began: had he done it? Had Tom Cruise saved cinema? He couldn’t have… surely not.
Well let me tell you now: he did. After a staggering box office run across the world that put $1.48bn in the bank, Maverick is finally available to own on disc from this coming Monday, and for any film fan is an essential purchase – because even at home, Top Gun: Maverick is the perfect action blockbuster.
Everything about this film sets it apart from the pack. Where so many modern blockbusters have become swamped by franchise sensibilities, endless teasings of what’s to come, and a feeling of not trying particularly hard because they know people will rock up to the cinema anyway, at every turn Maverick chooses to be different. Hell, its opening scene is better than some entire movies. It tells us everything we need to know about Maverick and how much/little he’s changed in the 36 years since we last saw him, and it’s one of the most awe-inspiring sequences of cinema in the last few years. I beg anyone to watch it and tell me it’s anything other than jaw-dropping.
That jaw-dropping nature is something that doesn’t stop at the film’s beginning. Instead, it barrels towards its conclusion with an outrageous amount of filmmaking prowess. On two occasions in the film’s special features, producer Christopher McQuarrie describes the film as “the kind of movie they don’t make anymore.” Were he discussing virtually any other movie, I’d have called him a liar. But with Maverick… it’s hard to deny he’s telling the truth. This is truly a movie unlike any other. Just utterly insane, magical filmmaking from top to bottom, propelled relentlessly by an unbearably tense narrative and packed with more emotions and heart than many other franchises have managed in years of making movies. It’s nothing less than exceptional.
But what makes it so? Well, for one, the aerial stunts and photography. All done for real. What’s on display here is some of the most technically difficult footage ever committed to film. Those are the film’s real actors in the cockpits of real F18s, something they were able to do thanks to innovations that placed six IMAX cameras in and around the cockpit for filming, and a six-month training regime put together by Cruise to ensure they could fly safely. And, outrageously, it works. There are shots and sequences in the film that physically cannot be achieved with digital trickery. From a spectacle standpoint, Maverick really is different from the rest. It’s huge, sweeping, epic and bombastic in a way audiences have never seen before, and the fact that all the flying is done for real? Ridiculous.
As well as its outrageous stuntwork, Maverick also features some tremendous visuals and an incredible score from composer Lorne Balfe, which only serve to elevate the stunts themselves. There are two particular sequences where these really stand out: the aforementioned opening, where Maverick is a test pilot for a new hypersonic jet, and the final mission, itself in two stages. What we’re treated to here is nothing less than pure cinema: visual storytelling at its absolute finest, combined with some fantastically raw performances and an extremely moving score. It’s wonderful – but the beauty doesn’t stop there.
Outside of its tremendous visual nature, what really makes Maverick tick is how emotional it is willing to be. There’s been a recent trend in action movies to play things super straight: to have stars avoid emotional vulnerability because of the perceived idea that this makes them seem stronger, manlier – one need only look at any recent movie starring The Rock to see what I mean. But the problem with this perception is that it comes with an innate lack of depth in male protagonists (women in action movies tend not to have this problem, perhaps because of a lack of ego on the performer’s part). What Maverick does so effortlessly, so brilliantly, is to give its star an emotional core.
The heart of the film is the relationship between Maverick and Rooster (son of Goose, Maverick’s old wingman who was killed in the first film). It gives Maverick a moral quandary – something to fight for, something to lose. Part of what makes Tom Cruise such a watchable and bankable star is his willing to play into his vulnerability: he’s getting older and he knows it, and his characters are starting to come to terms with that fact. It’s fascinating to watch: so simple but executed so well that it’s virtually impossible not to love. It proves, definitely, that what the modern blockbuster is missing is heart.
And speaking of heart: I’d be remiss not to mention the wonderful Val Kilmer, who returns as Iceman in his first acting role since the release of documentary Val, which detailed his health and career issues as a result of throat cancer. One of the most underrated actors of his generation, it’s undeniably great to see him grace the big screen once more. While Iceman himself isn’t in the film for a long while, his presence is felt all the way through it, and the scene he shares with Cruise is a highlight of the entire movie.
Also in the supporting cast are Jennifer Connelly as new love interest Penny (an exceptional piece of casting: the way she says “the afterburner” will stay with me until the day I die); Miles Teller as the aforementioned Rooster, who bounces brilliantly off Cruise and their co-stars; Glen Powell as the smarmy, loveable rogue Hangman; Monica Barbaro as the no-nonsense Phoenix; and Jon Hamm, Charles Parnell, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis and Danny Ramirez in other supporting roles – all are tremendous.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say there are only really two things wrong with Maverick. One is a very distracting shot in which two characters are lit from opposite sides of the frame, despite the sun being only on one side, and the other is the fact that The Good Place’s Manny Jacinto plays one of the recruits but doesn’t get to say anything. That in itself is a crime, quite frankly.
Outside of the film, the 4K release is a little lighter on extras than some might have hoped. A single disc release (unless you’re opting for the dual-format 4K/Blu-ray steelbook, which is a beauty), we’re given four featurettes about the making of the film, two music videos for the film’s singles from Lady Gaga (who also serves as producer for the instrumental score) and OneRepublic, and a whopping 50-minute Q&A with Cruise recorded at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. What’s here is undeniably great – just perhaps not as in-depth as we might have wished. The featurettes all follow the same format: talking head interviews with cast and crew interspersed with vox pops of the cast between takes and during training, and ending on a profound quote about the nature of cinema. They’re good, but notably not as good as the excellent release of Cruise’s last big movie, 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout (also released by Paramount).
But hey, most people aren’t here for the extras, are they? And to be totally honest, I’d recommend this release even if it had no extras at all – the film looks beautiful in 4K, and keeps the expanded IMAX aspect ratio for large chunks of it, which results in not only a bigger frame for more action, but clearer, crisper picture detail. The Dolby Atmos audio track is a belter, too: you feel every engine, every missile, every bullet right down to your bones. Outside of a cinema, this truly is the best way to watch the film.
After four viewings, with a fifth on the cards in the coming days, I still can’t believe a film like Maverick exists. It’s a staggering piece of work, as exhilarating and emotional as blockbusters can be while putting every other western action movie of the last few years to shame. A genuinely perfect blockbuster, Top Gun: Maverick doesn’t just fly… it soars.
Top Gun: Maverick is available to Download and Keep now and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD October 31.