Top Gun: Maverick

A few days ago, Carol and I watched last year's second most successful film, Top Gun: Maverick. We've both seen Top Gun, of course, and while neither of us was anxious to see this, we had heard it was good.

I thought it was okay, but I certainly didn't love it.

I was definitely entertained and I admire that they went to lengths to shoot actual planes and aerial footage. Apparently they had all the actors in fighter jets (piloted by real pilots) and the actors operated the cameras themselves during the cockpit shots. So when you see the scenes with the actors undergoing extreme G forces, that's actually them. You have to applaud the dedication.

But I thought the story relied on way too many beats shared with the original film and the callbacks were excessive. Also, the final mission they fly, against an unidentified "enemy", was nearly identical to the attack on the Death Star in A New Hope. I was hoping for something a little more original.

I'm not sorry we watched it, but I'm glad we saw it for free on Paramount+ rather than paying to see it in a theater.