Top Gun Maverick (2022) [1080p] [WEBRip]

The success of "Top Gun: Maverick" is calculated in numbers: the highest-grossing film of 2022 and the most profitable release by Paramount Studio reached the sixth line in the overall US collection. Marvel, beware: The veterans of the screen strike back! Similarly, one can formulate the main driving force of both the picture and the impulse to launch the sequel — the desire (guess whose?) to become the most, the most, the most.


30 years have passed since the events of the original tape, but the desire of pilot Pete Mitchell with the call sign Maverick (Tom Cruise) to show off has not subsided one iota. Takeoff, flight, experiment on the verge of a foul and race at the speed of sound so that admiring controllers could call the captain "the fastest man in the world." Irresponsibility is again equated with heroism, and instead of another dishonorable discharge, Mitchell is returned to his native forge of the elite forces of the Navy "Top Gun" in order to prepare the best graduates for a dangerous mission (at first glance, as usual, it is impossible).

The Achilles heel of the invulnerable aviator was and remains the death of Comrade Goose (Anthony Edwards in the original tape): a mute reproach will be the son of partner Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), who was among the distinguished recruits. Goose Jr. with the call sign Bully is ready to serve the country, but Maverick is not ready to send the kid to certain death.


It is almost impossible to look back and look straight into the eyes of Tony Scott's film in 2022 without laughing or believing in the homoerotic subtext derived by Tarantino. In "The Best Shooter" (localization is considered official), Maverick spreads his love for airplanes along the runway, cheekily shows off in front of his superiors, and if he is sad, he jumps on a motorcycle and rushes to the hits of the 80s towards the horizon. Everyone will have to go through the strength test alone during the viewing — kisses under Take My Breath Away will knock out a nostalgic tear from someone, and someone will be forced to break through the wall with their head.

The craftsman Joseph Kosinski preserves the texture, palette and taut harmony of Tony Scott's brainchild. It's not just about literal curtsies, recreating the opening scene and Tom Cruise's smile, but about genre alignment and stylistic faceting. "Top Gun: Maverick" is literally, if not from the 80s, then from the mid—90s (minus the achievements of CGI): an energetic action movie with a touch of duty and a couple of optional romantic scenes. With all due respect to Jennifer Connelly, an elegant love line only artificially increases the timing and sponsors the ego of the main character. However, so is the whole picture.


The answer to the question "Will you like Top Gun?" is directly proportional to your personal love for Tom Cruise. The actor is called the last Hollywood star of the old school — and the celestial behaves accordingly. Dramaturgically, directorially and cinematographically, Cruz is illuminated by armor-piercing spotlights of (not)fading glory. The talented artist Miles Teller, as if the permissible brilliance on the screen was measured according to a ruler: shine until you cast a shadow on Cruz. However, the director famously compensates for the lack of self-irony of the main artist (that is, the most-the-most), wrapping the victory instead of a blinding gloss in a gentle veil of nostalgia.

Frankly speaking, the tooth-crushing pathos and deliberate action do not spoil the impression at all: "Top Gun" is loaded with endorphins, good mood and excited sighs. Flights turn your head, falls make you grab your heart, topless sports games are designed to tickle tender places. Fans of the 1986 tape will be pleased more than once — they will show a Kawasaki motorcycle, aviator glasses, and other artifacts of former greatness. And the audience of 2022 will be presented with the only pilot in the team — the unsinkable Phoenix (Monica Barbaro would like to wish a career takeoff).

It is incredibly pleasant to watch "Top Gun" precisely due to the stubborn straightforwardness, which has lost its former seriousness on the jelly shores of nostalgia. But it's worth thinking for a second after the credits, and it becomes incredibly sad: according to the patterns of the 90s, the world is divided in half into good and bad guys. Abstract enemies wear black helmets, but who is underneath them? In the 80s, enemies flew MiGs over the Indian Ocean. Now the attackers are based in China or...? Veteran Val Kilmer has been fighting laryngeal cancer for many years, and therefore cannot speak either on or off screen. Maverick (or Tom Cruise himself?) He is infantile trying to win the race for the title of the best / fastest/ most charming in the world, although no one is competing with him