Review of Top Gun: Maverick (2022) by Mike5215 — 17 Sep 2022

The third act is stolen directly from Star Wars. A nearly impossible attack run in a trench in hopes of striking a small exhaust port, causing a chain reaction that will destroy the enemy installation? Check. Automated gun turrets along the way? Check. Better equipped enemy defenders with blacked out face shields? Check. A wise old pilot instructing a younger flyer to use the force (Don’t think. Do). A last minute loss of a targeting system at a critical moment. The hero in the enemy’s sites and doomed before an unexpected rescue strike by an ally? Check, check, check. Tom Cruise is as reliable an actor and entertainer as they come. He does a good job here. Probably should have exercised more control over the script.

Seeing it in the theater was a good time, mostly due to the massive visuals and sound and the nostalgia surrounding the franchise. But rewatching it makes you realize how lazy, dumb, uninspired and mediocre it is.