Film: “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise (2022)

Never underestimate Tom Cruise. The kid who danced around in his undies in “Risky Business” can still open a movie that grosses $126 million in its first weekend—and is then nominated for Best Picture in this year’s Oscar race.

I am speaking, of course, about “Top Gun: Maverick,” another megawatt Jerry Bruckheimer production. The genius of the film—and yes there are moments of genius—is that it taps into something which may be quintessentially American: the notion of succeeding against all odds.

Cruise reprises his role of Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchel, Naval pilot extraordinaire. He is seen defying his superiors from the opening scene, flying a jet at Mach 10 speed without permission. As a consequence, instead of participating in a mission to destroy an enemy target (um, question: which enemy—Russian? Iranian?) he is bucked down to instructor, charged with training a new generation of elite “Top Gun” pilots.

This humiliation brings him into contact with young “Rooster” (Miles Teller), the son of his old buddy Goose who died in Top Gun One. Maverick blames himself for Goose’s death and has secretly vowed to keep Rooster out of active duty. The son is resentful—a drama that is central to the movie.

The best parts of the movie are the dazzling  flight sequences, as the Top Gunners zig and zag down through perilous canyons at death-defying speeds and escape from them at precipitous OMG angles. The weakest parts of the movie are the scenes in-between, filled with a cast of young macho pilots, over-injected with testosterone, speaking simple-simon dialogue right out of the 1980s. Yecch.

On the other hand, Jennifer Connolly, who plays Cruise’s occasional love interest, looks great at age 52, while Val Kilmer adds emotional depth, briefly appearing as Iceman, Maverick’s rival from the original film. In real life, Kilmer suffered throat cancer a few years and and must type, rather than speak, his dialogue.

So in this year’s race for Best Picture, does “TGM” have a chance in Hell? I’d say no but never underestimate anything associated with Tom Cruise. He’s defied the odds longer than most of the world has been alive.