Matthew O'Herren

This ones pretty rough and directionless.

The action was really impressive, engaging, and easily outdid the original in that regard, but the majority of the movie felt like Tom Cruise's fan fiction with Maverick at the center of the universe. Every character other than Maverick were present only to compliment Maverick and by extension the majority of them felt like flat silhouettes of actual characters. For example Maverick's love interest in this film didn't advance the story or his character arc in any conceivable way, but she did certainly remind the viewers that even at his current age Cruise got laid. With that said, Iceman, was an exception to this rule as his presence felt very sincere and significant. The clearly intentional homoromantic tension that was present in the original has completely been straight-washed out in this version making a lot of the scenes it paid homage to feel hollow and erasing the emotional core that it had originally. For example, to mirror the original's "you could be my wingman anytime" scene, Rooster thanks his former rival, Hangman, for saving his life. However instead of exchanging a sincere display of camaraderie, the characters stood 4 feet apart from each other and shook hands. In summery this piece had potential to be great, and I am disappointed that they were satisfied with it being just another popcorn movie.