DRT VEGAS

Nostalgic with a capital "N"! Sure, for those of us who caught the first "Top Gun" from the '80's, we probably shared a positive anticipation for this sequel. However, for those who never had the opportunity to view the first film, I gotta believe almost the first 2/3rd of this film must have seemed too mired in the mud of re-telling the storyline...replete with scenes from "Top Gun" 1 actually lifted and fused into the sequal. Too much retelling for my taste! I'll give much higher marks for the last half of "Maverick," because the writers FINALLY tied the (quite predictable) plot(s) together with a unique and edgy storyline. Even more, I found both "Top Gun" films to be boiling over with the kind of patriotic vigor and testosterone-raging fun that we as Americans could benefit from more of, given the deeply divided culture we live in these days. So much has changed in so few years! In the end, I found it fun to take this 30+ year-old movie franchise out for a spin again. And for as predictable and somewhat shlocky the storylines were, I'm glad they released this sequel.