A high octane mix of war, techno thrills and sports movie, Top Gun: Maverick devotes itself to nostalgia in a well-told tale of misunderstanding and redemption – and superfast planes
Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise), steely eyed in an F/A-18 combat jet
Paramount Pictures
Top Gun: Maverick
Out now
NEAR the climax of Joseph Kosinski’s delirious sequel to 1986 hit Top Gun, a state-of-the-art, fifth-generation fighter plane engages Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s aircraft in a dogfight around snow-capped mountains. Suddenly, the huge, hulking wonderplane banks, stalls and turns, hanging over Mav (Tom Cruise, even more steely eyed than usual) and his wingman Rooster (Miles Teller) as though it is painted on the sky.
“What the fuck was that?” Rooster cries, although an actual graduate of TOPGUN (official name, …