Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is a solid, feel-good-ish movie.

I feel there are few too many parallels to the original. The scenario is pretty vague ("the enemy" has advanced aircraft, but is never identified) and contrived (precise trench run requirements). The romantic story thread is ultimately unnecessary, if not overly drawn out and it does contribute some to the Maverick-Rooster relationship. It could also probably stand a little bit of condensing in general and it is extremely predictable as things move along.

Those are my gripes, but it's still quite enjoyable. Maverick's older and a newer generation of pilots is at hand. Instead of dealing with issues regarding his father, he's dealing with issues in relating to Goose's son, Rooster. You've got similar ego-driven pilots, so Maverick has to show them up, then make them work together. Things have to occur to make Rooster push past his problems. The confrontational asshole has to be one until he helps out. Once F-14s are mentioned, they have to make an appearance (Chekhov's Tomcat?). There's nothing particularly radical or surprising, but it's still enjoyable to see these people come together and pull off an "impossible" mission, save the day, and return home happily.

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