“Top Gun: Maverick” Proves Once Again Why Sequels Can Still Surpass Their Classic Predecessors
36 Years Later, the sequel to ‘Top Gun’ manages to somehow, improbably, establish itself as an instant classic
When it was first announced that Tom Cruise and his longtime writing partner Christopher McQuarrie were developing a Top Gun sequel, the project was met with overwhelming skepticism by the general public. Many believed that the first was a truly great film that didn’t need a follow-up, and that in doing so, this would tarnish its legacy.
I’ll be honest, I only watched Top Gun for the first time all the way through this past summer. I had seen parts of it on TV when I was a kid, but it just never hooked me. And, while this might not be a necessary popular opinion, after watching it this summer, I feel that it’s a very average film. Granted, it was a star making performance for Cruise. However, I found the love story to be incredibly forced, the characters to be largely one-dimensional, and the ambiguity of who the good guys were fighting the entire time to be rather frustrating in terms of trying to understand the overall plot.
Everything that Top Gun glossed over and rushed, Top Gun: Maverick rectifies. Instead of being in a hurry and focusing on Cruise on his motorcycle while it’s perpetually sunset with a distracting soundtrack blasting into your eardrums until they’re bleeding, Maverick takes its time. It focuses on being a character driven story with a discernible plot right from the start. It adds layers to Maverick’s character, where he wears the pain of what happened to his best friend Goose (played by Anthony Edwards in the first film), on his sleeve.
Not only does it effortlessly make Maverick a more well-rounded and sympathetic character, but it also gives him a way more interesting love story (with Jennifer Connelly, whose character is referenced in the first film), as well as more enthralling action sequences to work with. As well as a complicated yet remarkably balanced and fascinating relationship with Goose’s son (played by Miles Teller), who still understandably resents Maverick for what happened to his dad.
Most importantly, Maverick should finally put to rest the stigma that a movie 30+ years old can’t have a successful sequel. Two recent films that immediately come to mind for me are Blade Runner: 2049 (which came out in 2017 and is one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made), as well as Doctor Sleep (the 2019 sequel to The Shining). When both of those movies were in development, they were met with the same level of doubt and people feeling like their predecessors were untouchable for whatever reason. And both turned out to be outstanding films that simultaneously honored their roots, but also had the courage to forge ahead fearlessly with their own stories and new characters.
This isn’t to suggest all classic films deserve sequels, or even ones that get them are all rousing successes, but to merely point out that people who shrug off follow-ups to widely beloved movies should maybe be more open minded from the start. And the best example of this point is Maverick. While Blade Runner: 2049 and Doctor Sleep performed poorly in theaters due to bad marketing, Maverick continues to crush records. Currently, it has raked in nearly $1.5 billion at the box office and has a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
All three of these films also have another big thing in common – which is newer, fearless directors who all possess distinct visions for their movies. For Blade Runner: 2049, it was Denis Villeneuve (maybe the best director working today outside of Christopher Nolan), who already proved he could do sophisticated sci-fi after directing 2016’s Arrival. And with Doctor Sleep, it was Michael Flanagan, who demonstrated his feeling for how to direct horror after 2018’s House on Haunted Hill. And finally, with Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski once again proves he understands how to craft exciting thrillers, balancing exciting set pieces with multi-dimensional characters with interesting arcs (like in his 2017 film Only the Brave).
In the case of Maverick, the love story between Cruise and Connelly is largely fun, with a strong dose of guarded emotion added in, and the relationship with Cruise and Teller is complex and incredibly intriguing. And ultimately, those two central relationships are what makes this movie so special, especially with how the movie concludes.
What’s also remarkable about Maverick is that all the obstacles it had to overcome getting to theaters in the first place. It was completed before the pandemic but had to shelved for over two years. Usually, that would spell disaster for a movie, especially given the negative reaction across the board from the general public when this project was first announced to be in development. But after seeing how much confidence and willpower this story possesses, it’s not surprising to see it defy the odds and become such an endearing film.
Hopefully, this will help put to rest the negative stereotype that old movies can’t have amazing sequels. The three movies listed above are proof that it can still happen. And even more importantly, hopefully this movie gets more people out of their houses and more willing to want to go back to the theaters and experience films like this on the big screen.