Genre: Action Drama Adventure
Language: English
Running Time: 171 minutes
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer
As per the storyline, Tom Cruise here is not 'the man' on the mission, but a test pilot (read super pilot) who trains a batch of recent graduates for a special and dangerous assignment.
Given the fact that the protagonist here is an aging star (almost sixty) and reduced to playing a trainer and not the 'man of the mission', many of us (including me) got the impression that the movie would be sans the Tom Cruise magic (read death defying stunts) and more of an encashment of his brand as the last hurrah.
But please get rid of all such notions, as it's an out and out Tom Cruise movie, made very intelligently with proper business acumen and amazing special effects. Also, not once does the star appears old or jaded.
Herein, he is a maestro of supersonic fighter jets who can test them to record breaking speed and manoeuvre them like a toy with impeccable strategy to meet the concerned mission's need.
Alongside, he also teaches his unconventional albeit highly effective flying methods to a new batch of military graduates bursting with youth, super confidence and passion to do something out of the ordinary.
And he battles the ghosts of his past and rekindles an old flame.
As an exceptional dancer makes the toughest of steps appear like a child's play, the combo of good direction, acting, cinematography and special effects in the movie, ably simplifies the world of supersonic jets, their architecture & manipulation and their limitation on different terrains and altitudes !!
Everything is easily understandable and this is no mean feat.
You will find the movie thrilling & entertaining and around midway, you will start predicting it's end, but it will surprise you with an interesting climax.
In spite of woven around a top class military assignment, the movie is not gruesome to watch, as the bullet and bomb firing scenes are more on the lines of a hi-tech video game.
Also, it's a family entertainer with no nudity or intimate scene.
Top Gun: Maverick is a Tom Cruise Special giddy cocktail of - adrenalin rush, emotions and nostalgia, which needs to be watched in a theatre for full entertainment of the senses.
Please don't wait for it's OTT release.
Last but not the least, though the movie is a sequel of Top Gun (1986), a huge commercial hit by Tom Cruise and team, it can be watched as an independent film.
