Much like Tom Cruise's Missing: Impossible sequels, early reviews of Top Gun: Maverick suggest it will outdo the original movie. The belated Top Gun sequel was originally planned for release in July 2019 but was postponed due to the complexity of the aerial sequences, the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent scheduling conflicts. The pushback led to fears that Top Gun: Maverick would just be another movie stuck in development hell, but thankfully it will be released in theaters on May 27, 2022. Critics who have already viewed the movie claim that it has been worth the wait, showering it with praise and suggesting it could be one of 2022's best movies.
Tom Cruise will return as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in the sequel set over 30 years on from the original Top Gun. While full plot details are unknown, the trailer shows Maverick will mentor a new group of graduate pilots ahead of a mission set by fellow legacy character Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who is now a high-ranking U.S. navy commander. Tensions look set to bubble over as one of his new recruits is Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Nick "Goose" Bradshaw who died in Top Gun because of Maverick.
One way Top Gun: Maverick looks set to surpass the original is its stunts. Tom Cruise has cemented himself as one of the greatest action movie stars because of his willingness to keep making his set-pieces bigger and better. Mission: Impossible has the iconic cable drop scene, but the danger and scale of the stunt do not compare to Ethan Hunt's helicopter chase in Mission: Impossible - Fallout, or his scaling of the Burj Khalifa in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Top Gun: Maverick will continue the trend by having death-defying aerial sequences that top the original movie. Critics are already praising the cinematography of the flying scenes, with the trailer promising near misses, missile chases, and upside-down planes.
A concern with Top Gun: Maverick is whether or not the story can live up to Top Gun. Legacy sequels have not always been well-received, like Indiana Jones and The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. The fourth Indy installment, released almost three decades after the original, had an unoriginal storyline and low-quality special effects, something which was a worry for Top Gun: Maverick. But critics are praising the emotional weight of the sequel, and although the story is reliant on the original film it balances the legacy aspects of Top Gun well with the introduction of fresh characters.
The success of Mission: Impossible - Fallout adds credibility to the initial consensus that Top Gun: Maverick successfully combines mind-blowing stunts with a character-driven story. The latest Mission: Impossible fleshed out Ethan Hunt's backstory and leaned into the compassionate side of his personality more so than the previous action-packed movies in the franchise. Top Gun: Maverick's poignant moments will likely stem from Miles Teller's Rooster who blames Maverick for the death of his father. The early reviews for Top Gun: Maverick show that Tom Cruise has continued his run of improving franchises, not just by upping the ante in the stunts department but also ensuring the storyline gets audiences emotionally invested.
