Maverick is out there in the desert minding his own business taking care of his plane when he's called back to Top Gun for a task...to train and filter out the greatest pilots the US has for a critical mission. Then we meet said pilots aces...the most sorry, ridiculous, absurd bunch of teenagers you could possibly find. If you were casting teen Big Brother (how the hell is that show still on the air?) or some MTV garbage these clowns would be ideal. At issue is some country that is developing nuclear weapons and the US has decided to blow up that facility. The facility is hidden inside the bottom of the center of what looks like an inactive volcano. The only way to get there is through a curvy valley. So Maverick has to train these geniuses to fly at low altitude (otherwise anti-aircraft missiles will target them) through a valley, then up one side of mountain then down, hit the target, rush up the other steeper side of the mountain without blacking out, then evading the enemy aircraft. There will have to be two teams of two because it takes two strikes to blow up the interior of the facility.
There's a love interest and ex for Maverick who runs a bar near the flight school. She has a daughter. There is drama between Maverick and one of the kids who is the son of the one pilot who died in the original Top Gun and Maverick promised his mom to keep him out of danger, which he did, so the kid hates Maverick for getting in the way of his career (even though here he is). The higher ups of course can't stand Maverick but have to put up with him because he was the choice of none other than Iceman himself, who runs the place and is very ill. That leads to a touching scene with Val Kilmer.
Eventually, Maverick's stint as instructor ends just as he was warming up to the kids and before the mission begins. As everyone knows, this particular successful mission would require of several "miracles." Even though Maverick has been kicked out he decides to prove that he is the only one who can train the kids by doing a test run himself because conveniently near the school there is a valley and mountain identical to the geography of the bad guys's country. He makes it, forcing the higher ups to re-admit Maverick...not as an instructor but as a pilot for the actual mission!
So off they go to attack their target, Maverick gets shot down during the process. The one kid has a change of heart and decides to rescue Maverick, which leaves both in enemy territory, coincidentally near an enemy airfield where they find...an old F-14 for some reason. They start it up no problem and off they fly with enemy on their tail, when another kid, who is presented as the nemesis saves the day.
Back on the ground, Maverick still has to resolve things with the ex.
Top Gun: Maverick comes decades too late. Tom Cruise despite his status as a movie star plays things too low key and tongue-in-cheek for the role. Kosinski is the the wrong director for this movie; Miranda the wrong cinematographer. This movie should have tried to capture the flashiness and spectacularity that made the first iconic. But it doesn't bother. It should have launched the career of one of the secondary actors but it doesn't do that either. The couple of airplane scenes are alright, nothing spectacular. The coolest part here are the 5th gen enemy aircraft and their sinister-looking pilots. The climactic scene of the characters carrying out the mission is indeed thrilling but that's about it. This is the kind of movie that could have done with less story and character development but needed more aircraft/aircraft carrier action scenes.
There's a love interest and ex for Maverick who runs a bar near the flight school. She has a daughter. There is drama between Maverick and one of the kids who is the son of the one pilot who died in the original Top Gun and Maverick promised his mom to keep him out of danger, which he did, so the kid hates Maverick for getting in the way of his career (even though here he is). The higher ups of course can't stand Maverick but have to put up with him because he was the choice of none other than Iceman himself, who runs the place and is very ill. That leads to a touching scene with Val Kilmer.
Eventually, Maverick's stint as instructor ends just as he was warming up to the kids and before the mission begins. As everyone knows, this particular successful mission would require of several "miracles." Even though Maverick has been kicked out he decides to prove that he is the only one who can train the kids by doing a test run himself because conveniently near the school there is a valley and mountain identical to the geography of the bad guys's country. He makes it, forcing the higher ups to re-admit Maverick...not as an instructor but as a pilot for the actual mission!
So off they go to attack their target, Maverick gets shot down during the process. The one kid has a change of heart and decides to rescue Maverick, which leaves both in enemy territory, coincidentally near an enemy airfield where they find...an old F-14 for some reason. They start it up no problem and off they fly with enemy on their tail, when another kid, who is presented as the nemesis saves the day.
Back on the ground, Maverick still has to resolve things with the ex.
Top Gun: Maverick comes decades too late. Tom Cruise despite his status as a movie star plays things too low key and tongue-in-cheek for the role. Kosinski is the the wrong director for this movie; Miranda the wrong cinematographer. This movie should have tried to capture the flashiness and spectacularity that made the first iconic. But it doesn't bother. It should have launched the career of one of the secondary actors but it doesn't do that either. The couple of airplane scenes are alright, nothing spectacular. The coolest part here are the 5th gen enemy aircraft and their sinister-looking pilots. The climactic scene of the characters carrying out the mission is indeed thrilling but that's about it. This is the kind of movie that could have done with less story and character development but needed more aircraft/aircraft carrier action scenes.