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CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is an epic love story and in my opinion, the greatest sequel ever made (tied with The Terminator 2). I haven't had such positively strong feelings about a movie in a long time. It is easily the movie of 2022 as far as I'm concerned. Perfect blend of classic and modern.
Top Gun: Maverick is a love story about Pete Mitchell, call sign ''Maverick'' (Tom Cruise), a distinguished pilot/naval aviator who uses his tough life situation to his advantage in order to re-ignite the past love with a stunning owner/bartender of a local military personnel favored bar Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). Penny Benjamin was only referenced as a character in the original Top Gun, so bringing her on the big screen in the sequel was a great decision as it was shown in the movie how much potential her character had.
Due to the facts that Maverick and Penny have a shaky history and that Penny is now a single mom, meaning her priorities have greatly changed, Maverick realizes right away that he's going to have to really dig deep in order to achieve his goal, which is of course, winning Penny's heart again, this time once and for all. He wastes no time and immediately puts an epic, ecstatic and romantic 3-stage plan in motion in order to achieve his goal.
With the help of his old friend/wingman Tom Kazansky, call sign ''Iceman'' (Val Kilmer), Maverick gets reinstated back as the instructor at the famous Top Gun school in order to be close to Penny's bar and therefore close to Penny. At the first stage of his plan, he cleverly drops by Penny's bar and acts like he didn't know she owned it in order to keep things casual. The execution of this stage of the plan doesn't go perfectly as Penny forces Maverick's hand with her bar rules and puts Maverick in a situation where he's forced to pay for everyone's drinks at the bar. Unfortunately for Maverick, his card gets declined which reveals to Penny that Maverick doesn't really offer the financial security she, as a hard working single mom, deserves. However, Penny immediately shows us, although very subtly, why she got a hold of Maverick's heart - by not minding Maverick's financial situation at all or, more accurately, by not being a gold digger. Despite the rocky start, Maverick manages to lay the very much needed foundation for the achievement of his ultimate goal, and with that, completes stage 1 of his plan.
Upon arriving at Top Gun school, Maverick enters the second stage of his plan. He uses Bradley Bradshaw, call sign Rooster (Miles Teller) - his deceased wingman's son (who is also one of the top graduates at Top Gun school), to practice being a father figure, and with it, convince Penny that he's fit and able to be a good father which is crucial as Penny has a daughter. Throughout the movie, Maverick goes all out and over the top to refine his parenting skills to be able to achieve this crucial part of the plan - he gets really into it to the point where he even saves Rooster's life at the end of the movie even though he doesn't have to since Penny's not there to see it, thus showing us he has really embraced and refined his parenting skills which are now second nature to him. By the end of the movie, Maverick and Rooster bond like father and son which successfully completes the second stage of Maverick's plan with an added bonus.
While completing the second stage of his plan, Maverick simultaneously completes the third and final stage of his plan - proving to Penny that he is the man she has been waiting for. Maverick takes on a mission for the Navy which he manages to successfully complete in a spectacular fashion and therefore solidifies himself as the man Penny has been waiting for her whole life.
Impeccable acting by the entire cast, especially the last true action hero of our time, Tom Cruise. True to the original in every way possible and then some. The ambience and the kickass music take the very much necessary nostalgia rush to the highest levels known to man. Cinematography and writing work hand in hand from start to finish to knock it out of the park and catapult this movie into the all time great romantic movies list. On top of that, the message of the movie is beautiful and clear cut - it's never too late for love or, if you want, all you need is love. Unequivocal 5/5.
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Top Gun: Maverick (2022) is an epic love story and in my opinion, the greatest sequel ever made (tied with The Terminator 2). I haven't had such positively strong feelings about a movie in a long time. It is easily the movie of 2022 as far as I'm concerned. Perfect blend of classic and modern.
SUMMARY:
Top Gun: Maverick is a love story about Pete Mitchell, call sign ''Maverick'' (Tom Cruise), a distinguished pilot/naval aviator who uses his tough life situation to his advantage in order to re-ignite the past love with a stunning owner/bartender of a local military personnel favored bar Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). Penny Benjamin was only referenced as a character in the original Top Gun, so bringing her on the big screen in the sequel was a great decision as it was shown in the movie how much potential her character had.
Due to the facts that Maverick and Penny have a shaky history and that Penny is now a single mom, meaning her priorities have greatly changed, Maverick realizes right away that he's going to have to really dig deep in order to achieve his goal, which is of course, winning Penny's heart again, this time once and for all. He wastes no time and immediately puts an epic, ecstatic and romantic 3-stage plan in motion in order to achieve his goal.
With the help of his old friend/wingman Tom Kazansky, call sign ''Iceman'' (Val Kilmer), Maverick gets reinstated back as the instructor at the famous Top Gun school in order to be close to Penny's bar and therefore close to Penny. At the first stage of his plan, he cleverly drops by Penny's bar and acts like he didn't know she owned it in order to keep things casual. The execution of this stage of the plan doesn't go perfectly as Penny forces Maverick's hand with her bar rules and puts Maverick in a situation where he's forced to pay for everyone's drinks at the bar. Unfortunately for Maverick, his card gets declined which reveals to Penny that Maverick doesn't really offer the financial security she, as a hard working single mom, deserves. However, Penny immediately shows us, although very subtly, why she got a hold of Maverick's heart - by not minding Maverick's financial situation at all or, more accurately, by not being a gold digger. Despite the rocky start, Maverick manages to lay the very much needed foundation for the achievement of his ultimate goal, and with that, completes stage 1 of his plan.
Upon arriving at Top Gun school, Maverick enters the second stage of his plan. He uses Bradley Bradshaw, call sign Rooster (Miles Teller) - his deceased wingman's son (who is also one of the top graduates at Top Gun school), to practice being a father figure, and with it, convince Penny that he's fit and able to be a good father which is crucial as Penny has a daughter. Throughout the movie, Maverick goes all out and over the top to refine his parenting skills to be able to achieve this crucial part of the plan - he gets really into it to the point where he even saves Rooster's life at the end of the movie even though he doesn't have to since Penny's not there to see it, thus showing us he has really embraced and refined his parenting skills which are now second nature to him. By the end of the movie, Maverick and Rooster bond like father and son which successfully completes the second stage of Maverick's plan with an added bonus.
While completing the second stage of his plan, Maverick simultaneously completes the third and final stage of his plan - proving to Penny that he is the man she has been waiting for. Maverick takes on a mission for the Navy which he manages to successfully complete in a spectacular fashion and therefore solidifies himself as the man Penny has been waiting for her whole life.
Thoughts:
Impeccable acting by the entire cast, especially the last true action hero of our time, Tom Cruise. True to the original in every way possible and then some. The ambience and the kickass music take the very much necessary nostalgia rush to the highest levels known to man. Cinematography and writing work hand in hand from start to finish to knock it out of the park and catapult this movie into the all time great romantic movies list. On top of that, the message of the movie is beautiful and clear cut - it's never too late for love or, if you want, all you need is love. Unequivocal 5/5.