Top Gun Maverick * * *

When I heard this film was coming out I could not have been less interested.  However, the reviews were sensational, with most giving it four or five stars, so I figured, maybe I shouldn't be so dismissive.  

It's a long, long awaited (and probably unnecessary) sequel to the original Top Gun from 35 years ago.  Never having seen that one I downloaded it and watch it first.  It's dated badly I must say, and it certainly didn't inspire me to want to see any sequel.  Yet the encouraging reviews continued.

If you haven't seen the original I'd advise you to,  It will make Top Gun Maverick a lot clearer.  In fact, if I hadn't seen it I think I'd have been quite confused by the flashbacks and the behaviour of some of the characters.

In the first one, Tom Cruise plays the part of a Navy Pilot. He's one of the best, hence earning the title of a "Top Gun".  His call sign is "Maverick" which is exactly what he is in attitude.

Tom says thanks for this mediocre review

Now, thirty odd years later he is still in the service as a test pilot.  He is called back to the "Top Gun' academy as they need someone with his experience to train up other pilots for a "special mission" -  The United States of America once again aggressively interfering with a sovereign country. "Hell Yeah! Let's bomb 'em and show 'em who's boss."

As per the first Top Gun everyone is ridiculously good looking with buffed bodies which they show off a lot in otherwise unnecessary scenes in locker rooms and playing on the beach.   

Each day they train in their jets with an attitude not much different than excited kids hopping on their BMX bikes to play down at the local park, "Yay, lets go!" The fact that they have been drinking like fish the night before never seems to matter.

They do impossible, high risk maneuvers, but that's what makes them special. It also makes the situation totally unbelievable, "Whoopee!" they say as they nearly bump into each other at a thousand kilometers an hour: but never mind that.  Though, learning just how much G-Force a pilot is subjected to was interesting.

There is a bit of romance tossed in (of course) and there is some unresolvable conflict left over from the previous film. It's all so formulaic.  

The final section is the team doing their mission which was so ridiculous I found it amusing rather than exciting.  

Although visually spectacular at times I can't say how much is CGI rather than real fighter jets in action  - a fair bit I should imagine.  To be honest I don't know if that matters. It's okay I suppose. What it wants to do, it does well, but I am just as perplexed by the rave reviews now as I was before.