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Miles Teller stars as the son of an important fighter pilot in “Top Gun Maverick.” (Paramount Pictures)

Miles Teller stars as the son of an important fighter pilot in “Top Gun Maverick.” (Paramount Pictures)

Going to the movies shouldn’t seem like having to do homework.

For the third week in a row, a sequel may attract your interest and compel you to enter a movie theater. As with “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” and “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” you truly do need to know the players and the backstories for maximum enjoyment of the goings-on.

The latest entry in memory retention is “Top Gun: Maverick,” which has as its foundation,“Top Gun” from way back in 1986. Truth be told, that 36-year stretch is most assuredly a long time between movies, especially when both films seem like cinematic twins.

For the record, the “Downton Abbey” sequel has fizzled out at the American box office (only $16-million plus as of this writing), and the new edition of “Doctor Strange” isn’t going to cross the stratospheric benchmark of $2-billion. It’s a hit, but not a mega-hit. It’s possible it may not even score one billion dollars internationally. Yes, a worldwide box office take of $804-million is nice, but it’s not “Avatar,” “Titanic,” or “Avengers: Endgame” double billions nice.

In 1986, the original “Top Gun” took in $357,288,178 at the box office from around the world, which is $942,474,706 in today’s dollars.

For “Top Gun: Maverick,” ticket prices are much higher, and there are the IMAX, RPX, 4DX, and SCREENX surcharges for your enhanced cinematic experience in selected auditoriums. A lot of people enjoy sonic boom sound, throbbing seats, and an excessive rumbling in their heart.

This is Tom Cruise’s movie lock, stock, and barrel. He stars as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, the gung-ho U.S. Navy jet-fighting ace and merry prankster. He’s also listed as one of the producers. Cruise may not have his name in the screenplay credits but, c’mon, you know he had input. He also didn’t direct, but, again, c’mon.

For the record, the named director is Joseph Kosinski, and the credited writers are Ehren Kruger (best known for writing some “Transformers” movies), Christopher McQuarrie (noted most for writing and directing some of Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” films, and Eric Warren Singer, who has an Oscar nomination for co-writing “American Hustle,” and also co-wrote “Only The Brave.” He also wrote “The International,” a 2009 thriller I like, which has a shoot-out in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan.

Director Kosinski directed “Only The Brave,” which stars Miles Teller, who is in “Top Gun: Maverick,” and he also directed Cruise in 2013’s “Oblivion.” Cruise is nothing if not loyal. Teller didn’t want to appear in “… Maverick,” but a laser-focused Cruise convinced him to do so.

Tom Cruise is going to be 60-years old on July 3, and he looks fit as a fiddle and ready for action. If that doesn’t make you want to exercise, perhaps watching him play football shirtless in the new film will inspire you. Of course, in “Top Gun,” volleyball was the male-bonding game on the beach, but volleyball is on the sidelines.

In “Top Gun: Maverick,” the action-packed, dangerous military mission is to destroy the uranium-enriching facility located in a country hostile to, but not at war with, the United States. Geo-politics don’t matter a whit.

Up to this point, it’s all Cruise, all the time. He angers his superior officer, Rear Admiral Chester “Hammer” Cain (a terrifically gritty Ed Harris), by taking a hypersonic jet for a joy ride. Maverick is also at the Top Gun school teaching up-and-coming Navy fighter pilots with cool nicknames.

In fact, there are a lot of nicknames in the movie: meet Coyote, Fanboy, Payback, and Cyclone, who is Vice Admiral Beau Simpson and is played by Jon Hamm. My favorite is Hangman, who’s a smart-mouth, wise-cracking fellow like Maverick and is wonderfully well-acted by Glen Powell.

One especially important nickname belongs to Iceman, who was Maverick’s key rival in the first film. Val Kilmer returns as an ailing Admiral Tom Kazansky, who is now a four-star admiral and the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

And after, Maverick, the next most important nickname is Rooster, who’s very well-acted by Teller. Rooster is actually Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, a pilot in the mission training group, and the son of Maverick's best friend, Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, whose tragic death in “Top Gun” was a powerful moment. Rooster can’t forgive Maverick for what happened to his father, which means there’ll be a redemption scene to add some emotional drama and a life lesson to the story.

There are women in the film, including Phoenix, a mission pilot trainee played to perfection by Monica Barbaro, considering all the testosterone flying around.

Maverick has a girlfriend, Penelope "Penny" Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly). She’s a stereotypical single mother and a cliched tough-gal bar owner. The daughter of a former admiral, Penny can sail and takes Maverick, a Navy guy who doesn’t sail, on her boat for his teachable moment and a stint of oneupmanship and comic relief.

“Top Gun: Maverick” is a better movie than its predecessor. The jet-propelled flying thrills and crisp special effects are infinitely superior. This is high-gloss “Hollywood” entertainment. Its goal is to deliver a good time, and it succeeds mightily.

Through it all, Cruise owns the picture. When his colleague says, “I don’t like that look, Mav,” Maverick replies, through Cruise’s iconic movie star grin: “It’s the only one I got.”

Michael Calleri reviews films for the Niagara Gazette and the CNHI news network. Contact him at moviecolumn@gmail.com.

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