My son and I went to see Top Gun: Maverick at a theater about a 40-minute drive from us on Sunday. The theater was not packed at all, which surprised me for a holiday weekend. It’s a nice community theater with four different theaters. The Husband and Little Miss went to see the minions movie with her little friends in another theater.

Confession time here: I am going to be 45 this year and I had never seen the original Top Gun movie before this past weekend. I know. I’m so sad. So, Saturday night, The Boy and I watched the original movie and, honestly, we were not terribly impressed, which left us hesitant to see the latest movie.

Luckily, Top Gun: Maverick was much, much better than the first movie with a lot more of a plot and a lot more action.

As the title says, I will not offer spoilers of the movie.

What I will share is that this movie is what our country, and maybe the world, needed right now during a time of political tension, rising violence, and a tough economic future looming ahead. After a two-year lockdown and fears from the pandemic, people needed a movie that was free of any mention of that time frame and any mention of politics are heavy social issues.

This movie gives everyone the 2-hour and 15-minute breather they need right now, which is probably why it has pulled in so much money globally.

For those who remember and loved the first film, there is plenty of nostalgia and sentimental moments. For those who don’t remember the first film, there is plenty of action and a whole lot of testosterone for the men. For the women, there is some nice eye candy as the shirtless beach volleyball scene is replaced with a shirtless beach football scene (I don’t think that is too much of a spoiler).

There are only two returning characters for this movie (who I recognized anyhow) but the new characters don’t take away from the connective feel of the film. Instead, they add to the excitement and make this movie more interesting to me than the first.

The action in the middle and end of the movie keeps it afloat through a small amount of sap and one flashback scene that bordered on corny for me (but did not ruin the movie in any way).

If you are looking for a fun escape, I would definitely recommend Top Gun: Maverick and I would recommend you see it while it is still in the theater, at least for the action/flying scenes.