After we left the theater we were pulled over for doing 85 on a 50 mph street. When the cop asked me to explain myself I told him, “I’m sorry, officer, we just watched Top Gun: Maverick and I felt the need for speed.” He then gave us a thumbs up and let us go with a warning

OK, cheesy joke aside...before anyone sends me hate mail; ***they are no spoilers***

Um, there is a school of thought that says all movies should be compared on an absolute scale. It would say that movies must have a high level of credibility or familiarity in order to be good movies. Other people take the opposite, but no more valid approach of looking a each movie individually, disregarding all else but the movie. For those peeps, no outside reality or credibility is important, because for them, a movie exists to entertain in whatever way it chooses to.

Sooo... where do I fall -- I'll leave that for others' to decide.

For starters, Top Gun personifies the 80's, loved and loathed by many alike, but it was more of a product of it's time - and made no pretense about it; an unapologetic film on military grade steroids with its catch phrases, male macho orgasms, and Hollywood myths, which I mean as a compliment. It was fun, piled with cheese; Cheddar, Red Leicester,  Mozzarella, Camembert, Feta, Halloumi, Stilton and Parmigiano Reggiano, with silly lines but some memorable too "Your mouth is writing checks your ass can't cash." The way Iceman says "Mayday, Mav's in trouble. He's in a flat spin, and heading out to sea."  But Top Gun proved that that's not always a bad thing.

Now, back to Top Gun: Maverick is a modernized version of it's predecessor. It has the same essence and feel, which is impressive, but takes things from mach 5 to mach 30. The scenes in the air are brilliant. Its so great they shot it in-camera and not like a Marvel CGI video game. It is worth the price of admission just for one hell of a ride you won’t want to miss. And I would suggest you get a big water bottle cause you will be sweating profusely as Maverick cuts through the sky like butter, or Swiss cheese, whatever you prefer.

There’s also sentimental moments throughout that I definitely wasn’t expecting. Top Gun Maverick is refreshing in that it honors the original source material and does enough new things to make it a great film on its own merit.

Oh my golly gosh darn, another non woke movie going gangbusters, who woulda thunk it?

This is exactly what a movie is supposed to be; a piece of entertainment that was made for the moviegoers. It’s a shame that others find this formula so hard to adhere to. There was no stealing the name of a franchise in order to trick fans into being preached at and belittled for 2 hours. If you thought the previews were awesome, you’ll probably say the same thing about TGM. This certainly has my stamp of approval, whatever that’s worth lol.

I could add a sentence or two on some of the technical inaccuracies, but if you are picking this movie apart for breaching the laws of physics...maybe allow yourself to choke on some popcorn!

I’m no ultra-fangirl of Tom, but there’s no doubt he loves the moviegoing experience and he loves his audience and he wants to give us the most authentic experience possible. Whether you love or hate Tom, there's not a film he has sucked in (eyes wide shut???) Lol

Although Tom is this film’s immortal star, it's Kilmer's aching performance that took my breath away.

Ain't it funny the way that if you give the people what they want then they'll turn out and spend their hard earned cash?

I've always thought - "Mayday, Hollyweird's in trouble. They're in a flat spin, and heading out to sea," long before streaming services and a global pandemic nearly made going to the cinema obsolete. Content to strip mine the comic book genre and reboot/reimagine and regurgitate beloved franchises, with few exceptions(Dune for one) it had become stale and tired.

It's ironic then that a sequel to a 30 plus year old movie...just might be the thing that points the way to their salvation.

Hell,  maybe we'll see a 90 year old Tom Cruise in Top Gun 3 LOL. :)

Terrific review, A!
I actually nearly fell for your first line.  ;D

This:
I've always thought - "Mayday, Mayday, Hollyweird's in trouble. They're in a flat spin, and heading out to sea," long before streaming services and a global pandemic nearly made going to the cinema obsolete. Content to strip mine the comic book genre and reboot/reimagine and regurgitate beloved franchises, with few exceptions(Dune for one) it had become stale and tired.

It's ironic then that a sequel to a 30 plus year old movie...just might be the thing that points the way to their salvation.

Hear, hear!
From what I've heard... and seen so far, this is Tom doing what Tom does best.
Looking forward to seeing this.

I went opening weekend in IMAX with a group of 14 people. 13/14 positive reviews.

I thought it was top-notch blockbuster fun.

For gosh sake see it in theatres.

Quoted from LC Terrific review, A!

Thank ya kindly, I'd be your "wingman" any day.

And listen to Heretic -- see it in the cinema if you can.

Quoted from ghost and_ghostie gal Thank ya kindly, I'd be your "wingman" any day. And listen to Heretic -- see it in the cinema if you can.

Aww. Ditto.  ;D

Aye-Aye, Captain. I agree that's the way to see it.