Review: 'Top Gun: Maverick'
Val Kilmer's final role, albeit small, helps make this sequel to the 80s classic hit harder than expected.
Top Gun hit me like a missile in my early years—loud, fast, and impossibly cool. Its dogfights, soundtrack, and swagger made it unforgettable, especially for kids like me who were constantly drawn to films with speed and attitude.
Directed by the late Tony Scott, Top Gun vividly captured the world of rival fighter jet pilots, with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer at the helm. It thrust military aviation into the cinematic limelight, inspiring a wave of imitations, and for years to come, made something of a fighter jet and attack helicopter nerd out of me. F-14 Tomcats and AH-64 Apaches were my favorites. I wanted to fly them!
It’s strange to think it’s been almost four decades since Top Gun first hit the big screen. Critics weren’t exactly kind to it back then, but over time, the film became something else entirely—a defining piece of '80s cinema that still lingers in our pop culture.
This status was cemented by its inclusion in the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress. Top Gun is packed with scenes that have stuck with me for decades, the dogfights, the soundtrack, that slightly homo-erotic volleyball match... It's one of those rare films that still echoes in everyday pop culture.
Enter Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited legacy sequel. To be honest, I rolled my eyes when the sequel was announced. I was older now, and it felt forced. Also, the US had a very different role in the world, and it’s not exactly getting better. Did we really need another go at this?
But sitting there at the press screening in Oslo back in 2022, as the opening sequence kicked in, something shifted. The sound, the energy, the familiarity—it hit me in the gut. But what was this?
More believable, introspective storytelling? The passing of the torch? As a film about maturity, aging, and the passage of time, it forced me to reassess my initial skepticism.
Almost four decades on, we reacquaint ourselves with Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, masterfully portrayed by Tom Cruise in what might be my favorite of his roles to date.
Now a test pilot, Maverick pushes the boundaries of fighter jets while grappling with the ever-present guilt over the untimely death of his friend and co-pilot, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, all those years ago.
Early in the film, an amazing scene captures Maverick’s almost spiritual obsession with speed. Seated in an experimental jet, he pushes ever closer to the limits, each number, another record broken, and a personal demon to be outrun.
His guilt-driven obsession propels him to chase the impossible, hurtling his aircraft into a fiery, dazzling spectacle. In the heart of this tumultuous storm, Maverick is a solitary figure wrestling with remorse, a mesmerizing sequence that ends in a radiant explosion from which he miraculously emerges unscathed.
As Maverick faces being permanently grounded after the loss of the experimental jet, an anonymous rogue state provokes nuclear unrest, and he is recalled to the Top Gun aviation school. His mission? To mold a group of brash young pilots, full of that almost 80s bravado of his younger days, into a cohesive team capable of neutralizing a fortified nuclear facility in an almost impossible high-risk mission.
Despite initial reluctance, Maverick steps up, finding it particularly challenging due to the presence of Lieutenant Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), Goose’s adult son. As he tries to unify his team amidst clashing egos, he rekindles an old flame, Penelope “Penny” Benjamin (Jennifer Connolly). It’s the beginning of a relationship that reminds him of the life he could have had, and that there is a future possible for him too, even with his past guilt.
Top Gun: Maverick surprised me on countless levels. What stayed with me most was seeing Val Kilmer on screen again. His brief but powerful return as Tom “Iceman” Kazansky hit me straight in the heart, like a final salute from a childhood hero.
Watching him, voice severely weakened after years of throat cancer, but with presence intact, unexpectedly brought tears to my eyes. It was a farewell, and I think most of us watching the film knew that it would be the last time we would see him on the big screen. It hit me hard. I didn’t expect a scene like this in a legacy sequel to the 80s action classic, but there he was.
Jim, Doc, Bruce, Chris, Madmartigan, Gay, and yes, Iceman. He was all of them and more.
Top Gun: Maverick masterfully weaves warmth and melancholy throughout its story that is otherwise full of action, bravado and yes, another slightly homoerotic volleyball-scene. It explores themes of aging, mentorship, and passing the baton to the next generation. Maverick’s addiction to speed, fueled by his guilt and depression, his struggle to find purpose outside his high-octane lifestyle, is softened by his newfound responsibilities as a mentor, his rekindled relationship with Penny and the passing of a dear friend.
Ultimately, Top Gun: Maverick far surpasses the original, which is now nearly four decades old. And while it’s a thrill ride in its own right, what lingers most is the weight of finality—Kilmer’s last bow, Cruise confronting legacy, and me, unexpectedly emotional, watching the end of something I didn’t realize still meant so much.
It’s that rare kind of action film that remembers to care about its characters. The jet sequences are wild, sure—but what stayed with me was the emotional honesty underneath it all.
Val Kilmer passed away on the 1st of April, 2025. He was 65 years old.
Love this Eirick, thanks for sharing this I felt the exact same way xx
Hear hear! I have a few tears in my eyes today. Farewell, Iceman. 🥺