THE PLOT - The film takes place many years after the first film. Maverick is now a test pilot who endangers his job and is pushed right back to Top Gun to train pilots for a dangerous mission. He has to face his own ghosts, as his back seat best friends son, played by Teller, who just happens to be listed in the teams top list of pilots selected for the potentially one-way mission at hand. The training is dangerous, but there's always time for a little fun and some verbal hazing between the pilots about "who is the best." Of course, the mission doesn't go exactly as planned and Maverick has to fight his way back to safety.
THE GOOD - Cruise looks a little more refined and a lot more mature in the role as a Navy Fighter pilot and Captain. He's a little slower, a little more wiser, but he's filled with deep regret and has begun to doubt his abilities to lead; which are good qualities in building his character's new personae. Powell plays a brilliant role as Hangman, and they the writers should have really spent a little more time building up his cocky character. The writers bring back everything that you once knew from the first movie; the motorcycle, the partying, the quick one-liners between pilots. The general feel to the movie is that this is going to be a fun adventure and you'd better hang on for this ride.
THE BAD - What's missing in this movie is the real fun of being in the Navy. Everything in the screenplay is transparent, from the new girl Maverick falls for to the air-to-air dog fight. The writers should have spent more time on Teller's character [Rooster] and give him a better back story; save the fact that he's Goose's son. They could have really punched the fans in the gut if the original mother of the first film, played by Meg Ryan, stepped in and begged Maverick to pull her son from the mission. Ryan's character could have also closed the book on Maverick's last squeeze, stating that he will always be a "player" and he should have just settled down with "Charlie" of the first film. Instead, Teller's scenes as Rooster were limited and we had to rely on Cruises interpretation of Maverick's pain to help us understand what was going through his mind, when he wasn't wrapped up with the new love of his life.
POST MORTEM - This is a good action movie and there are some fun and funny moments in it. I'm not 100% sure if the writers had any real idea about how the Navy truly works, but for what they showed; a bunch of fighters in a hanger bay or parked out in a field, there's no real feel of danger about being on a fighter jet. The slow motion football game on the beach will never match the two on two volleyball game from the first film, but I guess eye-candy for females falls where ever it may these days. But BRAVO to Cruise, this was another good, top action film to watch!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4 of 5 Stars]
