By Kasi Khathuria

Once again, a new movie hits the theaters, striking emotion in thousands of fans. This movie is sentimental, action-packed, and truly one to be remembered. Many have been waiting 36 years for this movie, ever since the release of its first. This sequel to our beloved “Top Gun” just crossed $200 million in the box office, just after a week of being released. “Top Gun: Maverick” blew my mind and is, what I think, one of the best movies in the theater this year. 

To be honest, I had not seen the original “Top Gun” until recently. My family told me and my brother we were going to see the second one, so I of course needed to watch the first. I was invested in “Top Gun” and the movie was intriguing to me, but after watching “Top Gun: Maverick”, I found I enjoyed the sequel almost way more than the first. I know, usually we see the opposite. The first movie or the first book is always superior to that of the second. Yet, this movie almost had no flaw, at least in my eyes. I did see the importance of knowing what happened in the original, it truly did create the emotion and sentiment that the producers clearly meant to spark, but overall “Top Gun: Maverick” surpassed “Top Gun” itself. 

Let’s begin with the characters. Maverick makes his grand entrance at the beginning of the movie, making the crowd cheer and holler. Throughout the film we see his growth as a pilot, partner, and father figure. He clearly was struggling at the beginning, hated by many other pilots and higher authority in the navy. Maverick has stayed in the position of “captain” making it hard for him to move on, he clearly seems stuck in this place. Yet, he is put into an intense and difficult position. He’s invited back to Top Gun, where it all began. He now has to deal with proving himself to not only his authority but also the pilots he is teaching. I think his character development was extremely well produced and definitely made the audience feel for him at times but also made us all proud. Then comes Rooster, my personal favorite character of the movie. Rooster is Goose’s son (Goose died in training at Top Gun in the original movie). Up until the end, Rooster has a lot of resentment towards Maverick, which is honestly justified because of what Maverick did. Yet, of course in the end they work out their issues and everyone is happy. I did like that throughout the movie Maverick tried to grow close to Rooster, it was a huge part of his own character development, and it sort of formed this father and son bond that Rooster never truly had. It made the whole thing super sentimental, I was surely tearing up. The added romance with the character Penny also added a very big emotional aspect to the movie. In the original, there was a tiny bit of romance produced, but in “Top Gun: Maverick” I felt they formed a bit more of a slow burn romance which made the audience excited for Maverick’s happiness. The Top Gun Team overall did an amazing job with their growth and character development. At first, the team was struggling and skeptical about Maverick, but with a little whipping into shape, the team was led to success. The producers did an exceptional job showing how each and every character personally grew in their skill and attention when in the air, but more importantly how they learned to work as a team. 

The plot and setting. Compared to “Top Gun” I felt that this movie had more of a direct purpose and plot. It felt that the whole time, each scene had meaning to the storyline. There was never a dull moment, I could not turn my head if I tried. The story was action filled, a tad romantic, and even more so emotional for all those original “Top Gun” fans out there. The idea that this mission they were all preparing for was so risky and seemingly impossible, made it all more eye-catching. My eyes were glued to the screen through every “dog fight” and each of Maverick’s lessons. The whole plot was simply interesting and continued with a lot of purpose and I think definitely satisfied anyone watching the film. As for the setting, it’s once again very sentimental to many. The film was actually shot mainly all in San Diego, set at the base for the Top Gun unit, the same as the first movie. I love San Diego, and I may be a bit biased, but the scenery was super fun and immersive throughout the movie. The point of view type of shot when the characters were flying was extremely well done and it truly felt like you were there, flying the jet with them. Overall, an amazing job concerning the creation of the plot and scenery, the movie in turn made us all feel very connected and extremely intrigued. 

I’ve seen a lot of good movies lately, but “Top Gun: Maverick” is truly one of the greats. I would definitely go out of my way to watch the movie again while still in theaters, and I don’t do that often. So you should go give it a watch, actually you need to. It’s definitely worth it.