Top Gun: Maverick

Jettison any doubts about the yawning gap between films: the sequel is a complete triumph, a high-octane fist-pumper that introduces weighty notes of regret.

Look, you had your doubts. So did I. We had good reasons for them. Thirty-six years between sequels? A follow-up to the movie that made Tom Cruise an international superstar, a status he’s not only retained that whole time, but is arguably the only one left? And after its release was delayed nearly two years by COVID?

The potential for disappointment seemed astronomical.

And, let’s face it, “Top Gun” was a full-on reflection of the jingoistic, Y-chromosome energy of 1986, with strutting alpha males and appreciative women kept in the background, a parade of muscles and missiles as they strapped into their cockpits — whoa now! — and took out the evil Rooskies. How would that translate in a weird, woke 2022?

Lay them all aside. “Top Gun: Maverick” is a complete triumph, a high-octane fist-pumper that provides another round of stupendous aerial excitement while also giving Cruise (and a few holdovers) an opportunity to explore unexpectedly weighty territory, as he reflects on a life filled with regret from always pushing the envelope.

This time around Cruise is in the Tom Skerritt role, as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is still a flyboy captain, having refused or been busted down from all promotions. He’s brought back to the Top Gun Navy pilot school to teach up the new generation of cocky hotshots for a super-secret mission to take out a nuclear facility in some Middle Eastern country that’s never named, but let’s just call it “Diran.”

Fun fact: Cruise, who turns 60 in a few weeks, is older than Skerritt was in the original.

He’s still got all that brash energy and the killer smile, and is repeatedly teased, “Don’t give me that look,” to which he responds, “It’s the only one I’ve got.”

The central conflict is that one of the dozen recruits in his class is none other than Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his best friend and wing buddy, Goose, who was tragically killed owing to Maverick’s foolhardiness behind the stick. He tried to be a fatherly figure to Rooster but dropped the ball, and now the kid harbors a stocked arsenal of resentment for his instructor.

If there’s a quibble to be made with the movie, it’s that Teller isn’t given enough air and space to establish his character, instead acting as a standoffish foil to Maverick. Rooster’s a solid pilot but has a tendency to fly conservatively, which isn’t going to cut it for this daring seat-of-the-pants mission. The screenplay ( by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie) needed to give him a couple of solo scenes to flesh his fear and anger some more.

Val Kilmer returns for a touching scene as Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Maverick’s nemesis from the first go-round, who’s now a big-shot admiral. It turns out Ice has been protecting Mav all through the years as he continued to piss off every superior he’s had. Though the mission commander, played by Jon Hamm, would rather mothball Maverick permanently — and isn’t shy about telling him so.

Turns out there’s a new cocksure blond to take over for Ice in the form of Jake "Hangman" Seresin (Glen Powell), who immediately stokes old beefs with Rooster. He chose his callsign because he deems himself the deadliest pilot around, but his comrades say it reflects his tendency to leave his wingmen… er, wingpersons… hanging.

Yes, there is a single female pilot to reflect the changing of the times, dubbed Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), and the other background hotshots are notably more multi-hued than in the first movie. Still, their job remains the same as before: stay out of the spotlight and make Maverick shine.

Jennifer Connelly turns up as Penny Benjamin, the owner of the Flight Deck bar where all the top guns hang out, and an old flame of Maverick’s. She doesn’t have a lot of screen time but makes the most of it as a strong-willed woman who’s tempted to relight the fire, but strictly with her hand on the rudder.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (“Oblivion”), “Tom Gun: Maverick” has just the right blend of old and new material to remind us what we loved so much about the original film but move the storytelling ball down the field authentically. Yes, some of the same electric guitar musical score is used again, along with iconic songs like “Danger Zone” as Maverick races the jets on takeoff aboard his screaming motorcycle.

Anyone of a certain age who doesn’t get an instant nostalgia tingle from this stuff must be dead from the neck up. (Or maybe the waist down.)

The Maverick we see here is still plenty cocky, but is weighed down by the years and losses. He’s still willing to take any risk in the air, but on the ground he’s grown a bit hesitant and wary, ceding his alpha male energy to the youngsters. There’s an early scene where they actually make fun of the old-timer and toss him out of the bar.

Honestly it’s refreshing, and reassuring. Watching the cock of the walk get taken down a peg or two doesn’t diminish him, but makes Mav seem more human and approachable as a character.

Everything’s building up to the big mission, and I don’t think I’m giving anything away by saying that if you think ol’ Maverick is going to sit on the sidelines at command central while his young pups fly into the teeth of the enemy, you must have never seen the first movie… or any Tom Cruise movie. Or movies.

Suffice it to say the last half-hour is full of blammo action and nerve-chewing flight spectacles. It actually puts you in the pilot’s seat with much more visceral grip than the original film, which was actually a fairly low-budget affair festooned with static plane shots and stock footage.

I had an absolute blast at “Top Gun: Maverick.” It’s everything I was hoping for, and more.

Summer movies are back — and here’s the perfect reason to remind us why we love them so much.