“Top Gun: Maverick” Soars as Critics Hail Riveting Sequel

Here we are, 36-years after the original Top Gun, and Tom Cruise is back in the cockpit and going Mach 4 with his hair on fire again. Cruise, director Joseph Kosinski (they teamed up on the sci-fi film Oblivion), and their cast and crew have delivered one of the best action movies in years. Top Gun: Maverick manages the tricky feat of retaining what made the original so iconic while achieving newfound emotions, depth, and even more death-defying aerial feats. As the reviews are flying in, there is a consistent theme—this film is not just a ripping good time, it’s also a surprisingly emotional, old-fashioned action blockbuster made with impeccable craft. Also, and this is never easy, critics are pointing out an absolutely fantastic third act.

Let’s quickly situate ourselves with the story before moving onto the rave reviews. Top Gun: Maverick finds Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise, obviously) being summoned back to the Navy to help school a new class of Top Gun pilots before a top-secret, seriously dangerous mission. Yet Maverick’s return is complicated by his past—one of his students is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Top Gun‘s Goose (Anthony Edwards), Mav’s best friend and former radar intercept officer who died during a tragic accident during a training mission that has haunted Mav ever since.

And who summoned Mav back into the Navy fold? One Admiral Kazansky, who you remember from the original film from his call sign—Iceman. Yup, Val Kilmer returns for a moving scene in Maverick, and it’s but one of the resonances from the original that helps give Maverick its emotional heft. New cast members include Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Monica Barbaro, and Greg Tarzan Davis.

Top Gun: Maverick his theaters on May 27.

Onto the reviews!

For more on Top Gun: Maverick, check out these stories:

How “Top Gun: Maverick” Goosed California’s Economy

Tom Cruise Landed a Helicopter on an Aircraft Carrier for “Top Gun: Maverick” World Premiere

Listen to Lady Gaga’s “Top Gun: Maverick” Song “Hold My Hand”

Featured image: Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Credit: Scott Garfield. © 2019 Paramount Pictures Corporation.

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The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.