Top Gun: Maverick

Tony Scott's Top Gun, a feel-good flag-waver about hotshot fighter pilots, cemented Tom Cruise's superstar credentials in the 80s. Its rah-rah storyline, soaring aerial sequences, buff cast and hit soundtrack (including Oscar winner Take My Breath Away) proved a potent box-office draw. There's no chart-topping song in this pandemic-delayed sequel, but Cruise is back as an older but not necessarily wiser Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. His stalled naval career is revived when he's assigned to his former stomping ground to train up the US Navy's brashest and best for a dangerous mission. There are plenty of call backs to the 1986 original - breathtaking aeronautics; sun-drenched vistas; Cruise on a motorbike; even a riff on the shirtless volleyball game - while the tragic death of old pal Goose returns to haunt Maverick when his wingman's resentful son (Miles Teller) arrives for duty. Inevitably, it's the action in the air that dominates, leaving little for the rest of the cast to do (Jennifer Connelly's old flame included), although the scene between Maverick and old rival Iceman (Val Kilmer) is genuinely moving. If you love Top Gun, you'll love Maverick, but as a retread, it's no Mission: Impossible.