We feel the need, the need for Tom Cruise in a cockpit! And after 36 years of waiting, Gen X parents, our time has come with Top Gun 2. This Memorial Day Weekend is the perfect time to hit the theaters – let’s turn and burn! But is Top Gun: Maverick Ok For Kids? This parents guide and review will help you decide if Top Gun 2 is safe and kid-friendly for your little aviators. ps- get the best lines of dialogue and quotes from Top Gun: Maverick here and find out when you can pee during Top Gun 2 here.
Table of Contents
About Top Gun: Maverick
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.
When he finds himself training a detachment of TOP GUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Watch the Top Gun 2 trailer here.
Is Top Gun: Maverick Ok For Kids? Parents Guide And Review
There’s nothing like a summer blockbuster, and this is the summer movie we’ve been waiting for!
For two long years, ahem. But it’s finally time to revisit Pete Mitchell and his Top Gun exploits.
Sequels rarely have the same charm and impact as the original, especially when they fill us up with nostalgia callbacks.
But Top Gun 2 fires on all engines. If you were a fan of the first, which, let’s be honest isn’t a “good” movie you’ll be cheering in the theater along with the rest of us.
Simply put Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick delivers.
But can you take the kids?
This parents guide for Top Gun 2 will help you decide if Top Gun: Maverick is ok for kids in your house to watch. We’ll cover the language, sex, nudity, violence, gore, and adult themes and leave you with the appropriate age rating for Top Gun 2.
Talk to me, Goose!
Language: Top Gun 2 Parents Guide
If language is a sticking point for your family, listen up.
Any military parent can tell you that things get a bit salty when you get the troops together.
The dialogue in Top Gun: Maverick is art imitating life (except there are a lot fewer F-Bombs than our former military experience proved).
Here’s what your kids will hear if you take them to see the movie: sh!t, holy sh!t, balls, @ss, p!ss off, p!ssing off, d@mn, d!ckhead, d@mnit, son of a b!tch, shut up, oh my g-d, g-d d@mnit, h@ll, and one F-bomb.
As far as the amount of language, it’s not super prevalent, but it is sprinkled throughout the film.
Is Top Gun: Maverick Safe For Kids? Sex and Nudity
We’re happy to report that the only nudity here is a shirtless football game played on the beach.
Top Gun gave us beach volleyball with dog tags and jeans; Top Gun: Maverick loses the tags, changes the game, but for some reason keeps the jean shorts.
There is one scene with implied sex and a couple is seen laying down together in bed, but kissing is the only thing we witness.
From a sex and nudity standpoint, Top Gun: Maverick is safe for kids.
Violence and Gore In Top Gun: Maverick Is It Too Scary For Kids?
There are explosions, fistfights, and fighter jet dog fights in this movie. It’s a movie about expert pilots training for a real-world mission, so it’s serious stuff.
While no dead bodies are seen during the movie, it is presumed pilots are killed in action.
Overall, Top Gun 2 is pretty light on death and destruction.
Since you know your kids best, you may want to preview this to decide if they can handle the extreme peril and near-death moments that happen with the pilots.
If your children are easily scared by loud noises and explosions, Top Gun: Maverick may be too scary for them.
Adult Themes
There’s a past love and loss history that’s revisited on a surface level.
Characters are seen drinking though no one appears drunk in the movie.
Friendships and parent/child relationships are also discussed that might be on a more adult level than a young child is ready to understand.
It has its heavy moments, but it’s not an overly emotional movie.
Top Gun: Maverick: Age Rating
Top Gun: Maverick is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language.
We laid out the language for you above.
What ages are appropriate for Top Gun: Maverick?
If your child has seen the first movie, they are likely good to go with this one. Maverick is much more mature (though still reckless in his way) than in the first movie. Top Gun 2 feels a little more kid-friendly than the first one on most levels.
We think most kids ages 9 and up can handle the emotional scenes and perilous moments, as long as the language isn’t a huge no in your home.
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Patty Holliday is a parent movie reviewer, writer, and podcaster living in the Washington, DC area. Her goal is to bridge the gap between casual fandom and picky critic with parent movie and television reviews. As a lifelong fangirl and pop culture connoisseur, she’s been creating online since 2009. You can find her work at No-Guilt Disney.com, No-Guilt Fangirl.com, No-Guilt Life, and as host of the top-rated No-Guilt Disney Podcast.
Ramon Cortez
Sunday 31st of July 2022
I think it would be more appropriate for parents to give some thought to their investing $15-$20 a head to watch a Scientologist "act" when in the real world he would criticize your parenting on every level - from vaccination to your choice of school to your religion, if any.