Ryan Townsend

Top Gun review What a terrible example yet again that Hollywood, namely Tom Cruise, thinks they know what will check all the boxes for everyone, yet is less than fulfilling for anyone, served on a silver platter Rich on nostalgia and bad pacing, this film is nothing more than an ego stroke to Tom Cruise. It is not genuine in spirit to the original nor does it even attempt to, albeit for two minutes. The film’s attempts to bring us back into Maverick’s world is a showcase of how out of touch today’s writers, producers, and directors are to what made the original lightning in a bottle. This is Blockbuster fluff, designed and delivered to get your holiday weekend dollars, creative integrity be damned. No wonder every target date of release and eventual delay of it’s release around the pandemic. The aviation scenes are spectacular. No question. What offsets and ultimately kills the spectacle is the in between, a complete lack of character development, with our new group of pilots. Some seem likeable, but all are dumped into the background unceremoniously in favor of making Maverick look like a supersonic deity. Top Gun Maverick will beat you over the head with nostalgia and tries to look the part of it’s previous installment, especially in a near shot for shot remake of the opening. What is left after that opening credit scroll is invocative of anything but what made the original film so special to so many. See it on the big screen for the aerial scenes and being apart of the zeitgeist for the next little while, but don’t expect to see the magic from 1986. If anything this iteration will probably make you want to rewatch the original for the umpteenth time and forget a sequel ever happened.