Movie critics gush over Tom Cruise's return in 'Top Gun' sequel | Inquirer Entertainment

Movie critics gush over Tom Cruise’s return in ‘Top Gun’ sequel

/ 07:11 AM May 13, 2022

Cast member Tom Cruise attends the global premiere for the film Top Gun: Maverick on the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California, U.S., May 4, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Cast member Tom Cruise attends the global premiere for the film Top Gun: Maverick on the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California, U.S., May 4, 2022. (REUTERS)

LOS ANGELES  – It took Tom Cruise 36 years to head back to the danger zone to bring a “Top Gun” sequel to the screen, and the first reviews from movie critics said it was well worth the wait.

“Top Gun: Maverick” earned a 96% positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregation website, which had collected 75 reviews as of Thursday afternoon. The movie debuts in theaters on May 27.

Article continues after this advertisement

Cruise returns in the film as Pete Mitchell, the cocky Navy pilot, codenamed Maverick, who has never risen through the ranks because of his penchant for bucking authority.

FEATURED STORIES

Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press called the movie “a textbook example of how to make a sequel.”

“The movie satisfies with one foot in the past by hitting all the touchstones of the first film,” Kennedy said, “and yet stands on its own.”

Article continues after this advertisement

Box office analysts project the movie from Paramount Pictures will rank as one of the biggest box office hits of the summer. The movie had been scheduled for release in June 2020, but Paramount delayed its debut multiple times during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article continues after this advertisement

Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice Pro, ticket sales would hit $100 million over the Memorial Day weekend in the United States and Canada. That would make it highest-grossing debut of Cruise’s career.

Article continues after this advertisement

Critics said the movie offers thrilling flight scenes, an emotional story and strong performances by the supporting cast including Miles Teller, who plays the son of Goose, Maverick’s partner who died in the original 1986 film.

But most of the praise was showered on Cruise.

Article continues after this advertisement

“It’s a fresh-faced gloss on the original … powered, like the original, by a star who’ll simply never stop being a star,” wrote K. Austin Collins of Rolling Stone.

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly said the movie “belongs in almost every scene to Cruise.”

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

“At this point in his career, he’s not really playing characters so much as variations on a theme — the theme being, perhaps, The Last Movie Star,” she said. “And in the air up there, he stands alone.”

gsg
TAGS: Tom Cruise, Top Gun

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.