'I feel the need...the need for speed.'

When Top Gun hit Storck Barracks in 1986/1987, it showed in the theater for over a month. Deep friendship, a code honour, roaring engines, speed, a common enemy.  Of course, I probably shouldn't have been allowed to see it in the cinema (over 15 times), but this was 1986 and if you were on post, it's not like there was a lot to keep a kid occupied that didn't involve bowling, re-arranging tools in the motor pool, and .  Of course, I wanted to be a fighter pilot, dreamed of attending Annapolis. Even then, I wasn't overly enamoured of the Army. It wasn't personal (until later, when it became very personal - a walk down memory lane for another time).

I've only seen 'Top Gun: Maverick' once so this isn't a review so much as a gut-check about how I think this might join my canon of feel good movies.  These include: Beverly Hills Cop, The Dirty Dozen, Dr Strangelove, RED, Die Hard (not Die Hard 2, which was a first date with a random guy from my friend Sherita's boyfriend's unit. He talked through the whole damn thing! Who does that?!), Practical Magic, The Proposal, The Palm Beach Story, Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, Bad Boys.  

The script is tight, there was enough schmaltz to keep Romance and R&D happy. Enough continuity errors that Legal was entertained making her list (a tribute to the game she should to play with her father) and enough tension and speed that Feral and Who Dat get their adrenaline fixes. 

It will also probably slot into my Lone Wolf viewing, which consists of things like: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, The Bourne films, The French Connection, 48 Hours, the Last Boyscout; Ronin (also a Jerry Bruckmeyer movie), The Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Good Morning, Vietnam.

The movie doesn't shy away from the inherent mysogyny and racism that (still? Inherently?) plagues Institutions especially the US Military.  But they are not the focus of the story. They are handled deftly but they are not the crux of the story. Not perfectly, but deftly.  It doesn't shy away from the complex emotions of death, longevity, obligation, duty, and love, and that is perhaps its greatest strength.

Ultimately, the crux is Captain Mitchell getting his team -, including his lovely friend Goose's (sweet, dead Goose) son Rooster - home, from a mission that is sure to end in casualty.  Even the love story - sweet Penny, the Admiral's daughter - isn't the cake. But it makes for damn good icing.

Ed Harris is delightful as the Drone Ranger, an admiral with an axe to grind.  John Hamm, is the most obnoxious by-the-book CO. The movie did restore my appreciation of Tom Cruise in character roles. And I cannot wait to see more from Charles Parnell.

Maverick has aged well,  maturing the sense that the boundaries he's pushing are all about making the mission better. And about not leaving a man (human) behind.  It is a damn fine summer movie and I'm glad I made time to indulge such whimsy.