Top Gun

Directed by Tony Scott, Top Gun follows hotshot fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) as he arrives at an elite naval academy and subsequently finds himself confronted with a series of obstacles and scenarios (eg a rivalry with Val Kilmer’s slick Iceman, a relationship with Kelly McGillis’ sexy instructor, etc). There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Top Gun fares best in its briskly-paced and periodically engrossing opening half hour, as filmmaker Scott, working from a script by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., delivers a propulsively watchable endeavor that benefits significantly from Cruise’s magnetic and thoroughly charismatic turn as the arrogant protagonist – with the actor’s first-class efforts heightened by a stellar supporting cast that includes Tom Skerritt, Anthony Edwards, and Michael Ironside. It’s disappointing to note, then, that the picture slowly-but-surely loses its grip on the viewer as it progresses into a meandering, padded-out midsection and second half (eg there’s a long, uninvolving stretch detailing Maverick’s attempts at coping with a fellow pilot’s death), which does ensure, as a result, that the action-packed bent of the picture’s third act is hardly able to pack the exciting and visceral punch one might’ve anticipated (and expected) – thus cementing Top Gun‘s place as a decent-enough blockbuster that is, in the end, rarely as compelling or spellbinding as its various star-making performances.

**1/2 out of ****