Returning in a New Era, Top Gun Sequel Garners High Marks

Earning a 97% "Certified Fresh" rating from critics on the recommendation site Rotten Tomatoes and with the likes of Deadline Hollywood's Pete Hammond saying that the film "tops the original in every way imaginable", Top Gun: Maverick is being hailed as an old-school blockbuster in a new age of filmmaking.
As A.O. Scott writes in his review for the New York Times, Maverick's first meeting with Rear Adm. Chester Cain seems to be telling Pete Mitchell that the game is over. And thanks to new technology, flyboys like him are all but obsolete.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Review: Will This Stuff Still Fly? (New York Times)
The senior entertainment editor for Polygon, Matt Patches tweeted 12 years ago that "If Top Gun 2 happens, I will eat a shoe." According to Vanity Fair, as Top Gun: Maverick blasts into theaters this weekend, Patches has been forced to make good on his promise and reflects on how one should never underestimate Tom Cruise, and why he’s—somehow—willing to risk everything all over again.
Top Gun: Maverick Made a Man Eat His Own Shoe, as Well as His Words (Vanity Fair)
As for the U.S. Navy's real training program that inspired the 1986 film, the genesis of the Fighter Weapons School was based on a report of the Navy's air-to-air missile performance over the skies of Vietnam in 1968. According to Smithsonian, the Navy’s assessment of the preparedness of its own flight crews was brutal, and one of its many recommendations was that the Navy establish an advanced training school for fighter pilots.
‘Top Gun’ Is Back. But Is the Elite Navy Fighter Pilot School Really Like the Movies? (Smithsonian)

With a younger roster of cocky pilots, the F-18 Hornet replacing the F-14 Tomcat, and a new, present-day mission, Top Gun: Maverick's engagement with audiences will be measured by its box office results. And just like Maverick's opening scene as a test pilot, predictions are currently in the stratosphere.
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