It wasn’t bad, not at all, they actually managed to make a good sequel after so many years since the first movie, and I don’t think it was that easy, but I dare say it was a good film, in its genre.
Sure, I’m not that big a fan of the genre, but I can appreciate the entertainment nonetheless.
It had a lot of testosterone in it, but that’s alright for this kind of stuff, these guys are the super-pilots, so a lot of machoism is to be expected; I keep hope that someday men will realise that it’s not the only way, but it’ll be a long wait. I’m just pleased they added a girl in the mix.
After all, men act macho to impress other men, of course, just like women compete with other women, it’s all very sad.
Anyway, to the plot.
For years now Pete Maverick Mitchell has been a pilot testing the limits of new planes, stuff like that. When someone wants to shuts them down, he goes ahead anyway and successfully tests the plane not for Mach9 and scheduled, but for Mach10 as the bureaucrats wanted.
I guess he shouldn’t have done it, or he’s punished for having destroyed that plane, I don’t remember exactly why, or maybe it was all an excuse because they had something else for him to do, anyway, he is sent back to the Top Gun school. He meets Penny again, who at first makes a show of keeping him at bay and not start anything between them, but it doesn’t last long and soon she’ll leave her door open for him. *sigh* of course, who could resist our Tom?
So, he has to train, teach and select the pilots. Twelve of them have been selected, the best, but he has to choose six of them for a secret, important mission.
Someone (I don’t know if they ever say the name but it’s quite clear that they refer to Russia, since there’s lots of snow and they have advanced planes..) has… what was it again? Something dangerous, a weapon, plutonium, something, I don’t remember, it’s not really important.
The point is that it’s only ok for America to have super-weapons, so they want to eliminate the threat by destroying the thing. To do this, they have to execute a very, very difficult manoeuvre.
The twelve pilots are: Bob the good guy, Phoenix the girl, Hangman the arrogant self-absorbed guy who tries to smile like a young-Tom, then there’s Payback, Fanboy, some others that I don’t remember and of course Rooster, Bradshaw’s son. (Bradshaw was Pete’s friend in the first movie, the one who died). Whoever saw the first movie can’t ignore the relationship at first sight, they made him almost a clone, with those mustaches.
Rooster is very angry with him because Pete once took away his chance to get in the program, and he lost four years because of it. Pete will explain to Penny that it was Rooster’s mother dying wish, that he not follow in his father’s footsteps, but Rooster does not know this and will probably never know. Pete doesn’t want him to be angry at her too.
Hangman is a good flier but only thinks of himself, not as part of a team. Phoenix and Bob are the best duo, they fly together. Rooster is good, but sort of too cautious, and Maverick stresses out how he should learn to follow his instinct as a pilot and stop thinking so much.
They try and try but it’s really difficult and they all believe it can’t be done.
When Admiral Cain (or some important title like that) takes him out and decides to change the plan, he doesn’t know what to do, he thinks it’s the end now. For all these years there was Admiral Iceman who always protected him, (Iceman from the first film, with the same actor) but he was not well and he recently died, so there’s nobody on his corner now. Still, Penny is so sure that he will think of something, that he would not forgive himself for abandoning his ‘students’ , so he ‘steals’ a plane and shows them that it can be done.
At this point Maverick is made Team Leader by Cain. So, Maverick up front, then Phoenix and Bob target the spot for him to shoot it. Then behind them there’s Payback and Fanboy (I think) zeroing on the target for Rooster to shoot it.
They succeed, but after that there is no avoiding being detected so lots and lots of missiles go after them, and planes too. They manage to stay alive, but when it looks like Rooster can’t avoid being hit, Maverick manoeuvres the plane to get hit instead saving him. The others are ordered to come back. Maverick is alive of course, and Rooster goes back to save him, and destroys a plane just as it was about to shoot Pete. Still, his plane is shot down too, and he ejects in time.
Now… Maverick runs to the spot where Rooster ended up… which isn’t very far since he gets there that Rooster is barely on his feet yet… funny, I would have thought with how fast those planes go, it would have been too far…
Anyway, Rooster is glad he’s alive, but Mav shoves him, angry that he came back. Rooster says he saved his life, Maverick points out that HE saved his life first, and not for him to come back and die anyway, and what was he even thinking, at which Rooster just has to remind him how it was him who told him again and again to stop thinking and act.
The scene when Rooster opens his arms from his legs in that way was the best, I loved it.
They’re ok now, but need a way to get back to safety, they’re in enemy territory, so they steal a plane, an old one, a prehistoric one according to Rooster, but it’s just the kind of plane that Maverick used to fly back then, so he knows how to do it.
They are found out and there’s another big battle planes against plane, and they manage for quite a while until they have nothing more to give, no more weapons, and are saved by Hangman who was in stand-by and came to save them.
Everyone is back home, alive and safe, and Pete gets his girl of course, and once again he takes her for a ride on a plane…
Maverick - Tom Cruise
Rooster - Miles Teller
Phoenix - Monica Barbaro
Bob - Lewis Pullman
Hangman - Glen Powell
Iceman - Val Kilmer
Cain - Ed Harris
Penny - Jennifer Connelly
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