``Top Gun: Maverick'' instantly compresses the time since the previous movie, the ultimate fusion of nostalgia and modern challenges

Inheriting from the main drama to the names of details

" Top Gun " was the number one movie at the US box office in 1986. It was also the number one hit of 1987 in Japan, where it was released as a New Year's movie at the end of the year. Talk of a sequel had been floating around for a long time, but Tom Cruise, who had the right to give the go-ahead, did not immediately agree. " Top Gun " was a beautifully concluded story of Maverick, so he probably had no desire to make a sequel unless he had a satisfactory script. In fact, several ideas for a sequel had been sent to Tom, but they were all rejected by him. In the first place, Tom, who had just achieved the status of the highest rank star in Hollywood with " Top Gun ," had no choice but to play the same role again and again.

However, as time passed, talk of a sequel to Top Gun began to be whispered around the time Tom Cruise reprised his role as Ethan Hunt in the Mission: Impossible (1996) series. In 2010, Paramount Pictures approached Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott, the director of Top Gun , about making a sequel. Talks were progressing, but the project was temporarily halted in 2012 due to Tony Scott's suicide. Then, in 2017, the production of a sequel was finally officially announced with the title Top Gun: Maverick.

“Top Gun: Maverick” © 2022 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.

How should they approach a sequel after such a long break? The story revolves around Maverick returning to Top Gun(the nickname for the elite pilot training school of the U.S. Navy) as an instructor, and sends his students on an impregnable mission. In a sense, the plot is simple, but the film includes an excessive amount of important episodes and key items from the previous film, instantly immersing the viewer in the world of Top Gun . The film's creators' intentions are clearly conveyed.

The most important link is the drama in which Maverick lost his best friend Goose in " Top Gun ," and no matter how much time passes, the sadness of that loss remains deep in Maverick's heart. Goose's son, Rooster (whose real name is Bradley Bradshaw), becomes Maverick's student, but Maverick's love for him becomes the source of conflict, as he refuses Rooster's application for the military for four years, when Rooster wants to follow in his father's footsteps. There is also a scene in which Maverick, who is forced to make a difficult decision, earnestly asks the late Goose a question, and the passionate friendship between the two men smoothly transports us to the world of 36 years ago.

An unexpected link is Maverick's love story. Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, who works at a bar near the base, is a new character in the sequel, but it is said that she had a past relationship with Maverick. At the beginning of " Top Gun ," Maverick is called to the room of Navy Commander Stinger, who scolds him and criticizes his A Very Private Affair, which involves chasing the commander's daughter. Goose, who is standing next to him, reveals the name of the woman, saying, "Penny Benjamin?" (In the subtitled version, it is sometimes mistakenly called "Benny"). This character, who only appears by name, plays an important role in the sequel as a past lover, and this is a connection that expands on the details of " Top Gun ."

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