The Randomguy's

Top Gun: Maverick is no doubt the best action film of the year

Strictly speaking, I'm not old enough to know the 'Top Gun Craze,' when everyone rides a motorcycle with cool jacket and sunglasses on. As I grew up, I did watch the original Top Gun for a few times and wasn't that impressed. The Plane shots were very confusing, the interaction between characters sometimes were pretty awkward, and I still don't get why everyone was so sweaty as if they just jumped out from a swimming pool. Although the story line and how the story telling was brilliant, I cannot said I had good times watching them. But still, because I've watched it so many times, I kind of know everybody's characters and their personalities. And with this background, Top Gun: Maverick is a very enjoyable experience.

The story started with our good old Maverick, although aged, still got his naughty vibe and determination. He was then assigned back to Top Gun for a extremely difficult mission, aimed to train the young pilots for one last time, which includes his old partner's son, Rooster. From the start of the movie we were shown that although he was able to live with the death of Goose, it was still a huge nightmare keeping him awake. And although he became much more mature, he was still the madman we knew. Then he met Penny, one of his old lovers when he was younger. Just as the atmosphere felt pretty good, Rooster came. You could almost taste the guilt Maverick felt from the way he avoided him by instinct. When the piano was played and the classic song started, the feelings within Maverick's eyes were almost painful to watch. This is how you know that this movie will be a great film. No long conversations that make you feel asleep. No forced romance to get people aroused. The film just speak to you like a film should in the first place.

With the setup so nice, the rest of the movie surely doesn't disappoint, and most issues I have about the previous film were not seen in this one. The Plane shots were amazing, and the characters just felt genuine. The story itself is pretty straightforward, basically the same plot as the old one. In hindsight this is a terrible thing because usually the story told twice wouldn't be as good, but Top Gun Maverick did not make you feel that. In addition, they add a very emotional twist near the end, so if you don't think twice you would not have noticed that this is the same formula. To be honest, you know this is a Tom Cruise film throughout, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. The great thing about Tom Cruise is that even when you know it's him, you will still enjoy the movie nevertheless. The plot twist especially leaned on that and it proved to work as beautifully as it should.

The way I see it, Top Gun: Maverick is a film that I can easily recommend to everyone. The characters are charming, the fight scenes are breathtaking, and the story is simple yet good. I think this is Tom Cruise and the whole crew sending a message: This is what Top Gun should've been. Back then we don't have the technology and resources ready, so we reimagine it. Needless to say, they succeed. With flying colors.