Top Gun: Romances of Maverick Highlights Terrible Romance in Top Gun
Cruise's character in Top Gun: Maverick rekindled his romance with an old sweetheart called Penny Benjamin. Viewers who remember the original film may find that name familiar as Penny had a fleeting appearance in Top Gun. Before Top Gun: Maverick started, Jennifer Connelly's downtrodden love interest was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Maverick for decades; she didn't take his pledges of being around too seriously. But when Maverick went back to Penny following the successful last mission of the film, he demonstrated an original movie problem and proved he was indeed a changed man.
Top Gun's romantic subplot between Charlie and Maverick was reputedly primarily added post-production when test viewers believed there lacked enough Romance. On a re-view, it reveals with the romance subplot many of the worst moments in the original film. While Charlie and Maverick's whole relationship appeared forced, Top Gun's sex scenes were famously terrible. None of it worked with Maverick's more expansive character development, even on a re-view. Maverick spent Top Gun learning to get over his pride and, eventually, his remorse over Goose's death. Charlie's love tale hardly ever crossed this one at all.
Penny Fit Top Gun: Maverick's Story Perfectly
Maverick's romantic subplot not only reflected its central plot but also seemed to fit the same more general character trip.
Because their beginnings were kindly backdated to a sentence from the original film, Penny and Maverick's chemistry felt lived-in. Penny and Maverick made great sense for spending years dodging one other before finally settling down since the basic idea of the Top Gun franchise was on a rogue test pilot who refused to follow the rules. Maverick dating his teacher Charlie never really matched his character arc, but his return to an old flame following decades of running from his past was moving.
Most importantly, Maverick's battle with guilt and responsibility shaped his connection with Penny as well as his Top Gun: Maverick character arc. Top Gun: Maverick's Romance subplot seemed like it belonged on the same greater character trip even as it reflected its main premise. The choices spared the sequel from repeating the error of including a subplot that could have been deleted totally. Top Gun: Maverick underlined throughout the process just how little Top Gun needed Charlie and Maverick's awkward romantic subplot.
How Top Gun Got Away with Its Empty Romantic Subplot?
Though the romance subplot of Top Gun was never required for the narrative, the extraneous scenes are not emphasized as a movie-ruining mistake. The legendary soundtrack of Top Gun most certainly explains this. Berlin's massive song "Take My Breath Away" covered a lot of sins and was played over Charlie and Maverick's loving montage together. Top Gun exploited a great song to cover the pointlessness of Charlie and Maverick's needless relationship, just as its successors got away with mostly underusing Top Gun's breakout character Hangman by keeping its action fast-paced and dramatic.
Penny helped Maverick appreciate his past, much as he needed to process his loss over losing Goose by interacting with his son Rooster.
Great music salvaged Maverick and Charlie's love tale; the script itself never really added much to the film. This is why Top Gun: Maverick was able to escape without even addressing Maverick's initial love interest, even if his reunion with her was the last scene of the original film. Conversely, Connelly's Penny Benjamin was essential to Top Gun: Maverick's narrative since she stood for Maverick's opportunity to stop escaping from intimacy and responsibility. Penny helped Maverick embrace his past, much as he had to deal with his sadness over losing Goose by working with his son Rooster.
Top Gun: Maverick Proves an Awkward Truth Regarding the Original Movie
While Top Gun is a cult classic, Top Gun: Maverick showed that one component of the original film never truly worked. When the explosive hit Top Gun came out in 1986, viewers really loved it. Critics of Tony Scott's film largely laughed at its excesses but yet agreed Top Gun had a certain cheesy appeal. The original film's reputation grew over time, and Top Gun finally became known as a great Tom Cruise vehicle. Some of its more dubious components were essentially excused in the process until a re-watch.
The ending of Top Gun Maverick made it quite evident that the sequel had outperformed the first film. Top Gun’s sequel was more emotionally resonant than the bombastic original, with Cruise offering a more nuanced portrayal of an older Maverick driven by grief and regret as much as cocksure confidence. Though Top Gun: Maverick also benefited from some amazing new technology to record its aerial action, Maverick's conflicted attitude was among the largest contrasts between the two films. Though Top Gun 3's narrative would highlight this tech even more, one of Maverick's strongest subplots was far more grounded.
