The First ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Reactions Call The Sequel A ‘Perfect Blockbuster’ (That Will Take Your Breath Away)

Are you feeling the need for speed, too? Literal years of pandemic delays for Top Gun: Maverick are nearly over. Only one month remains before the sequel brings Tom Cruise’s protagonist back into the realm of Val Kilmer’s Admiral “Iceman” Tom Kazanzky, and apparently, Iceman is the reason why Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s been summoned back to the program. The sequel will likewise send Tom back to Cannes for the first time in three decades.

Before that happens, a little volleyball action came to CinemaCon, where Maverick apparently thrilled the crowd. The movie also stars Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, and Miles Teller (as the son of Maverick’s late bud, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw). Ghosts from the 1980s and Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” will (according to Gaga) hold “multiple layers… spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in.” That song presumably steps into the shoes of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” from the original movie, and overall, the film sounds like a raging success.

In fact, critic Eric Sneider calls it “the perfect blockbuster.” He added, “Not only did it feature dazzling aerial combat sequences, but I actually cried, it’s that emotional. And call me crazy, but I humbly predict that it WILL land a Best Picture nod next year. It’s not just THAT good, it’s VERY good.”

From there, there’s a lot of promises that fans will be “blown away” by the “killer” aerial scenes and emotions that run high throughout the project.

Gaga gets some lip service along the way, too.

https://twitter.com/_LaurenHuff/status/1519757776628506625

And yes, thank goodness for “shirtless beach volleyball” and the return of Kenny Loggins. It’s almost “Danger Zone” time, people!

Top Gun: Maverick arrives in U.S. theaters on May 27.