Michael's Movie Grade: A-
Goodness gracious great balls of fire, that was an awesome movie.
From the opening flying montage (set to Danger Zone obliviously) it is obvious that this film fully understands why so many movie fans (myself included) love the first film. This is not to say however that the movie rests solely on nostalgia. This movie has its own story to tell and it is a darn good one. Though the story may follow all the familiar beats, it never feels like it is going through the motions and there are times when the story is told so well, you forget what the formula these movies follow is and you start to doubt what will happen next. This is a true sign of great storytelling. I especially love the way Maverick is handled here. He has in some ways matured since the character we have seen in this first film, yet he is still very clearly the character that we have come to love. While he has grown up and now knows how to better control and deal with his emotions (let us be honest with where he was at in the first movie he could not have been an instructor), however he still clearly has his rebellious streak and constantly finds himself in trouble with his superiors. The true heart of the movie is the relationship between him and Goose's now adult son. He sees so much of himself in this younger self in this character and just as people had trouble getting to him in the first film, he can not get true to this character he truly cares about. This is so well handled and it gives some emotional weight to this action packed story. Another scene that works incredibly well here emotionally is the scene involving his reunion with Iceman, which is more touching than any scene in a Top Gun movie needs to be. On the action side this film is fantastic. Rather than CGI this movie uses more practical effects (many of the cast members went through training to do their own flying scenes) and the film is all the better for it. These scenes are breathtaking and this is a part where this movie may even outdo the original. Of course the humor is very important to a Top Gun movie and this film can be really darn funny and you could certainly hear the laughter in the movie theater I was in. Also while this movie has many wonderful call backs to the first film (my favorite being the return of Great Balls of Fire), there is no need to see the first movie to follow or enjoy this film and I hope that this picture makes many who haven't seen the first one to try it out.
This is simply a very fun time at movies.
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