Lightning rarely ever strikes twice - especially 36 years after the fact, but Top Gun: Maverick manages to accomplish the impossible and delivers an exhilarating crowd-pleaser that’ll have you pumping your fist to the very end. 

 

There’s never a dull moment in Top Gun: Maverick, especially for fans of the original, delivering satisfying fan service for loyalists, as well as leaving the door open for newcomers to become a Top Gun fanatic. Director Joseph Kosinski, takes over the reins from the late Tony Scott and impressively captures everything the original offered, while diving even deeper into the themes, characters and some of the greatest practical effects/stunts ever put to film. The cinematography is absolutely incredible, Claudio Miranda knows how to make a visual spectacle with his shots and he is at the top of his craft with Maverick. 

 

Originally when the cast was announced for Top Gun: Maverick with Miles Teller at the forefront as Goose and Carole’s son, it’s safe to say I was worried about Teller’s mixed filmography. However after seeing the film, Teller is one of the biggest selling points, with Cruise slightly above him in his remarkable return as the iconic Maverick. Cruise brings the same energy he delivered back in the late 80s and it’s astonishing how Cruise, as well as scribes Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie were able to bring the daredevil, smart aleck, charming nature of Maverick flawlessly back to the big screen all these years later.  

 

The story of Top Gun: Maverick may be easy to speculate, but it’s still a stunning accomplishment, with its range of characters and their chemistry airborne, as well as grounded that’ll have you eager to return to Top Gun soon after the credits roll. From the volleyball scene transformed into a football related teamwork exercise, to the intoxicating scenery surrounding our airborne pilots, to the thrilling dogfights that are reminiscent of A New Hope’s legendary trench run - Top Gun: Maverick is a phenomenal experience that’ll please all your senses in one heroic conclusion. 

 

Top Gun: Maverick is exactly what the world of cinema needed to bring audiences back beyond the usual comic book affair. Unlike a majority of belated sequels, Top Gun: Maverick will go down as one of the greatest sequels ever made; up there with the likes of T2: Judgment Day, Aliens and The Dark Knight. I urge you to go out and see this in the cinema, but if you can’t make it out - watch it on the biggest screen you can once it arrives at home.