It's a by the numbers sequel where Maverick, who supposedly got over Goose's death by throwing his dog tags into the sea, didn't. By the end of the movie it felt like I'd watched a very long comic book. A comic book that is politically correct and where even the American characters who aren't particularly nice aren't all that bad.
Maverick has to train a group of hot shots while staying under the radar of a rule following Admiral who believes the day of the pilot is over and that autonomous drones are the answer to modern air warfare.
The mission is to bomb an Iranian nuke site - a mission perfect for autonomous drones.
So despite only lasting two months as a Top gun instructor, and being a maverick, Maverick is selected to teach a group of young pilots to carry out the mission. He teaches his team by individually shooting each one of them down in training, having them play football at the beach and telling them how difficult the mission will be - while fighting his PTSD.
Despite the unreal action - Maverick treats the US Navy like his own private flying club, flying between two aircraft flying it tight formation, then spiralling towards the ground with Goose's son in the other plane - this is a slow movie.
The action comes toward the end, but as America is great and Iran is bad, we don't have much to worry about. Even the enemy 5th generation fighters decide to give up their advantage of stealth and decide to engage Maverick visually.
To me it felt like this film lacked the character development, twists surprises and story. So much money, time and effort has been put into a movie which is more an echo of the first, rather than being a sequel with its own kind of magic.
Maverick has to train a group of hot shots while staying under the radar of a rule following Admiral who believes the day of the pilot is over and that autonomous drones are the answer to modern air warfare.
The mission is to bomb an Iranian nuke site - a mission perfect for autonomous drones.
So despite only lasting two months as a Top gun instructor, and being a maverick, Maverick is selected to teach a group of young pilots to carry out the mission. He teaches his team by individually shooting each one of them down in training, having them play football at the beach and telling them how difficult the mission will be - while fighting his PTSD.
Despite the unreal action - Maverick treats the US Navy like his own private flying club, flying between two aircraft flying it tight formation, then spiralling towards the ground with Goose's son in the other plane - this is a slow movie.
The action comes toward the end, but as America is great and Iran is bad, we don't have much to worry about. Even the enemy 5th generation fighters decide to give up their advantage of stealth and decide to engage Maverick visually.
To me it felt like this film lacked the character development, twists surprises and story. So much money, time and effort has been put into a movie which is more an echo of the first, rather than being a sequel with its own kind of magic.