Top Gun Maverick has taken the world by storm and is already seeing immediate blockbuster success. Multiple generations are embracing what is proving to be one of the best blockbuster pictures in years, and it is amazing how the movie managed to surpass all the hype that surrounded it given that hype has been building for several decades for fans of the original Top Gun. The movie forces Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) to confront the tragedy that occurred at the end of the original Top Gun with Goose's son Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller) being selected as one of the elite pilots that are to be trained by Maverick for a seemingly impossible mission.

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While the Original Top Gun movie is always going to be cherished by its fans and expecting a sequel to be able to surpass it is unrealistic, Top Gun Maverick found several ways it was able to reach a higher standard than the original. Even if many people will want to hold onto the original as their main preference, there is no doubt that there are several areas where Top Gun Maverick does a superior job than the original.

The Cast

top-gun-maverick-cast

Not to take anything away from what the original cast accomplishes in Top Gun, Top Gun Maverick steps it up in a big way. Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer carried the star power in the original but Top Gun Maverick brought together the likes of Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris and many others to play alongside Tom Cruise, giving the film one of the deepest casts you will ever see in a blockbuster movie.

The cast brings together several generations, with Harris playing an old-timer Admiral, while also having Miles Teller play the son of someone from Maverick's generation.

The Production Effects

Maverick flying over Admiral
Image via Paramount Pictures

It should not come as a surprise that the production effects in Top Gun Maverick are a clear step above the original. Not only does Top Gun Maverick have the benefit of decades of advancements in movie production, but the movie's creators' insistence on making it as real as possible makes sure that it did not fall into the trap of using the cheaper and simpler effects that would have taken away from the quality of the experience, especially on the big screen.

Maverick made sure that the movie felt as real and natural as possible while delivering some of the most exciting and intense action scenes featuring planes and military equipment that simply cannot be compared to what was available in the original.

Nostalgia

Maverick and ICE Man singing Great Balls of Fire in original Top Gun

Given that Top Gun Maverick is a sequel, it will always have an advantage when it comes to nostalgia. In this case, however, the nostalgia is not just reminiscing about the original Top Gun. Instead, that nostalgia is built into the narrative and helps develop the characters while advancing the overall story. Nostalgia is not only felt by the audiences because Top Gun Maverick is reminding them of the original.

Maverick himself feels that nostalgia in the movie in a great scene when Rooster unplugs the boombox to start playing the piano. The song he chooses to play is the same some Maverick and Goose were signing in the original Top Gun, "Great Balls of Fire". Many things are mentioned about Maverick's past, the different things he has accomplished, and the reasons why he stunted his career growth in the military. Getting a better understanding of the past is a key component of the movie and seeking out that understanding helps build into the overall nostalgia.

Depth of Characters

Rooster staring

One of the biggest strengths of Top Gun Maverick is how much depth there is to the characters. Not to say the characters in the original were superficial, but Top Gun Maverick masterfully builds on the characters from the original to create even more dynamic characters in the sequel. A great example of this is how Ice Man is portrayed. While Val Kilmer's battle with throat cancer made it impossible for him to be a prominent character in the sequel, they were still able to build on his story and expand upon what a remarkable character he was.

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Given how celebrated Ice Man is in the original, Top Gun Maverick has a great opportunity to build from that. Seeing the influence he has with his ability to give Maverick the assignment and continually protect him despite all other superior officers hating him creates an even more dynamic character. Even for new characters like Rooster, Top Gun Maverick is able to build from the foundation that was laid in the original and establish a dynamic relationship between Rooster and Maverick before they have even said a word to each other in the film. That relationship ends up being the most dynamic in the film and is integral to the progression of the plot because their relationship constantly has to adapt given the conditions they were under and what was at stake with what they were trying to accomplish.

Dramatic Effect

Maverick flying in plane for mission

It is always going to be hard to make a case for anything having more intensity and a stronger dramatic effect than the original Top Gun, but Top Gun Maverick finds a way to top it even in that respect. What Separates Top Gun Maverick from the original is how many times they are able to twist what they are building up to, making sure the audience is always on the edge of their seat with intense implications. Everyone could anticipate that Maverick was going to end up being the team leader, but they ramped things up even more by showing the team struggle so deeply to finish the mission in training, only to have Maverick come in and beat it ahead of schedule.

Having Maverick be the leader, however, then set it up for the possibility that he was going to die. When he teamed up with Rooster, everyone had the sense that disaster was going to occur again. Having this setup made the end of the movie as thrilling as possible, with several instances where it appeared as though Maverick was going to sacrifice himself for Rooster, or Rooster was going to do the same for Maverick. In the end, the audience was given all of that intense drama, but the movie did not have to do the obvious and have one of them die. Instead, they subvert expectations without sacrificing any of the drama, leading to a masterful conclusion to the film that was less predictable than the ending of the original Top Gun.

Emotional Impact

Maverick with Rooster in his background

There are many factors that go into the emotional impact of a movie, and for an action-packed blockbuster navy movie, it is remarkable how deep the emotional impact of Top Gun Maverick goes. The core of that emotion stems from the original Top Gun Movie, but what makes it superior in Maverick is how it is carried throughout the entire film. In the original Top Gun, the real emotional impact is only felt towards the end. All of these characters had to create an emotional connection fright away in the original, whereas that connection is already established at the beginning of the sequel. Even if the death of Goose in the original Top Gun may have been the most intensely emotional individual moment in either movie, that kind of emotion is carried throughout all of Top Gun Maverick.

The dynamic between Maverick and Goose is filled with that emotion and the power of that emotion is demonstrated when they end up having to work together with their lives at stake. Despite their clashing for the majority of the movie, and they end up saving each other's lives when it matters most. With the residual emotion from the original being carried by several characters and many scenes, there is an extra layer to the emotional impact in Top Gun Maverick. Add in getting the opportunity to see Val Kilmer despite his physical state, and seeing the deep connection he has with Maverick makes him a much more emotional character than anyone could have anticipated. Maverick's relationship with Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly) also brings in everything audiences are able to remember about his romantic life in the original. The Film also uses the connection to Rooster's mother Carole (Meg Ryan), by having it explaining how Maverick pulled Rooster's papers because she didn't want him to fly. A greater emotional impact is at stake when you are taking into account both characters in this film, and characters from the original.

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