Very Entertaining overall. Effects were incredible. Porky agrees with Lenny that it was a bit too formulaic and followed the cadence of the first film a bit more than Porky would have liked. For example, instead of a beach volleyball scene, they show a beach football scene to highlight the physiques of the pilots. Instead of Goose singing Great Balls of Fire in a bar, his son does, but essentially the same scene with different actors. Jon Hamm and Charles Parnell were both outstanding as Vice and Rear Admirals. Ed Harris was great in a brief cameo as he is in almost everything he does. Porky would have liked to have seen more of him but it was not to be. Cruise was terrific as the washed up instructor trying to teach the the young hotshots real world life and death reality as opposed to textbook execution, and the way they handled his current relationship with Iceman (now an Admiral himself) was particularly poignant. Porky read Cruise wouldn't have agreed to do the movie unless Kilmer was in, and after seeing it, Porky understands why, so it was great to see them both and they handled that story line and wove in Kilmer's current condition extraordinarily well. Porky would have preferred they explore Maverick's inner demons, relationship with the Admirals, and general struggle with authority a little more, and a little less flying / stunts. The last 15 min of the story line is beyond cheesy and not remotely realistic, but that's Hollywood for you. Overall it was a solid sequel but the cheese factor was a bit high for Porky's taste and seemed like an odd juxtaposition with the very serious dramatic scenes. Porky gives it 3.25 out of 4 stars. Had the potential to be 3.75 but fell just a tad short. Porky still highly recommends checking it out. For obvious reasons, this is the kind of film that is made for the big screen so don't wait to stream. Pony up the $15 and go to a theater! The bigger the better!
