The Thirty-Six-Year-Old Sequel

 

I hope they didn't keep you waiting.  

Thirty-six years almost to the day, the sequel to "Top Gun" is finally here.  Oh, not that the producers didn't try for sooner.  Allegedly, the development of "Top Gun Maverick" started in 2010.  And then shooting actually started in 2019 but wasn't finished in time for the celebrated lockdown of life in 2020.  Still, even though I saw the first one in 1986, I did revisit it recently so I could remember who was who.   And figure out what the hell I was watching.

It turns out that it's not as hard as you think.  While some of the hit soundtrack from 1986 is sorely missing, this is pretty much a continuation of the same plot from decades ago.  And that storyline was pretty simplistic so you don't need more than a HS diploma to figure it all out.   That said, this is pretty damn enjoyable.   And, frankly, just the simple act of watching something on a big screen is fun enough in 2022.  To wit, "Top Gun Maverick" is a film that should never be viewed on your living room TV.   This needs to command the biggest screen possible and not one you can purchase at Best Buy.

It's all predictable and formulaic and that's okay.  Tom Cruise is back, albeit a few facial wrinkles.   Indeed, his aging provides the jumping off point of the film.  No longer a flyer, he is now relegated to teaching the next generation.   And you know that won't last long.

Val Kilmer is back briefly, despite the actor's throat cancer, and accommodations are made by giving him very little dialogue.  And Miles Teller plays the son of Cruise's buddy who crashed and burned back in 1986.  Even the son is now showing a few wrinkles.  Yep, it's been that long.

While it's all the same, "Top Gun Maverick" has a wistful quality because it shows a US military that is long gone.  All of the woke politics has hallowed out our perception of the militia and this turns the film almost into a piece of nostalgia, even though it's set in present day America.  And, in my viewpoint, that's a little sad.

But we will see what happens when the third "Top Gun" opens in 2058.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  Beef sliders at the Iron Bar.