I had actually waited until this movie was out in theaters to actually watch the original Top Gun that came out before I was even born. I liked the movie but I didn’t think it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen either. But the movie has been available on Paramount+ since Christmas, and I finally got around to watching it.

Just like his real life actor Tom Cruise, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is a literal vampire apparently because he looks almost exactly the same as he did back in the 1980s. While his wild and uncontrollable urges seem to have fizzled in the 2020s, his pilot skills are still top-notch.

But he’s still a maverick after all, and most of the Navy’s upper leadership hate him with all their might. Maverick has been stuck as a captain for many years for his insubordination and not many admirals actually like him.

But it’s good to have friends in high places because his former rival Tom “Iceman” Kazansky became a Four-Star Admiral. When Maverick could have been kicked out or even court-martialed, it was always Iceman being his shield.

A new mission pops up for a new generation of young pilots. One of them is a pilot nicknamed Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw who happens to be the son of Maverick’s old friend Goose, who died in that tragic accident. Maverick will have to choose between letting this young pilot to fulfill his destiny or protecting his life.

Since the original lady Charlie Blackwood was played by an actress who is very old and ugly now, they casted as a bartender named Penny Benjamin. I didn’t really buy her much as a love interest for Maverick and I kind of wish they dropped the whole plot from the movie, as it really didn’t amount to much.

But before I ramble on too much I did like Top Gun: Maverick. Technology wise, it’s definitely much better than the original movie for obvious reasons. But overall, it’s not quite as good especially as there is a lot of deja vu. And funny enough, Maverick fights against the use of drones and the United States Navy but the whole story ironically really does make the case of using drones versus human pilots for military missions.