As a '90s baby, Top Gun was never a film that moved me as deeply as it did my father and his peers. After all, I was born a few years after the film premiered so what could I possibly identify with?
For those who grew up on a diet of machismo and male swagger or forged a brotherhood over a mutual appreciation of bomber jackets and Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, Top Gun: Maverick is undoubtedly the perfect sequel.Navy pilots with a youthful bravado who like to showboat? Check. There are also cheeky nods to familiar story beats, such as the Top Gun pilots' awkward run-in with their instructor the night before their course starts.
Apart from an uncertain future in the military, Maverick has to tackle the ghosts of his past. Specifically, Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw , the son of Maverick's late friend Nick "Goose" Bradshaw.