In Maverick’s opening scenes, we reunite with Captain Mitchell, who is now head of a programme that tests high-altitude, hypersonic reconnaissance planes. 

The story is set in the present day in San Diego, California. Young fighter pilots called Top Gun return to practice using multi million modern technology fighter jets and senior pilot Maverick is now the squad’s trainer. 

He’s about to be shut down, his pilots replaced with drones. The only way he can save the day is if he can hit 10 times the speed of sound in his next test run. 

He’s predicable in his being unpredictable. 

The new Maverick, though, is a broken man still haunted by his past and his guilt feelings for the death of his best friend Goose during a routine training exercise. This makes him suffocatingly protective of Goose’s son, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, who is one of the trainees. Maverick promised his dying mother to stop Rooster from becoming a pilot. Rooster bitterly resents him for it. When Maverick starts training the recruits in what seems an impossible mission (Ethan Hunt never really leaves Tom Cruise), their already  delicate relationship is at breaking point. 

Bradley blamed Maverick for his father’s death which prevented him from focusing on training with the other pilots. Bradley’s attitude annoys Maverick because he is still mourning his best friend Goose, whose death traumatised him.

Interestingly enough, Top Gun has been crowned the UK’s favourite Tom Cruise movie of all time, according to new national research carried out by Showcase Cinemas to celebrate the release of Top Gun: Maverick. The study also sees Mission Impossible protagonist Ethan Hunt take nearly 1 in 5 of the votes (18%), as participants elected the iconic agent their favourite Tom Cruise character of all time.

The survey also discovered 70% of 18-24 year olds named Tom Cruise the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob. 

Maverick landed in second place (17%) and the Lee Child character Jack Reacher (15%) finished in third, with the likes of Jerry Maguire and Barry Flanagan missing out on the top three. 

Top Gun convincingly took the top spot as over a quarter (26%) voted the 1986 film as their favourite Tom Cruise flick. The iconic movie beat out fierce competition from heartfelt comedy drama Rain Man (18%) and the all-out action of the Mission Impossible franchise (17%). 

The study also revealed that 20% of film fans believe Tom Cruise should have won an Oscar for his performance alongside Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man and over 1 in 10 Brits wished they could see Cruise act in the legendary film franchise, James Bond. 

With a whole host of iconic movie quotes throughout the years, “I feel the need – the need for speed” from Top Gun was named the UK’s top Cruise quote (25%), whilst 1 in 5 elected “Show me the money!” from Jerry Maguire as their favourite. 

Well renowned for his classic stunts, nearly a quarter of the UK voted his iconic scene with Val Kilmer taking down enemy planes in Top Gun as their favourite scene starring the Hollywood actor. 

As one of the big screen’s most recognised actors for the past three decades, it may come as no surprise that almost half of participants (47%) stated Cruise was their favourite actor of all time – whilst a remarkable 70% of 18-24-year olds claimed Tom is the ultimate Hollywood heartthrob. 

TOP TEN TOM CRUISE FILMS

1. Top Gun (26%)
2. Rain Man (18%)
3. Mission Impossible franchise (17%)
4. A Few Good Men (12%)
5. Jack Reacher (11.7%)
6. War of the Worlds (11.4%)
7. Jerry Maguire (11.2%)
8. Minority Report (10.8%)
9. Cocktail (10.5%)
10. The Firm (10%)

TOP FIVE TOM CRUISE CHARACTERS 

1. Ethan Hunt (18%)
2. Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (17%)
3. Jack Reacher (15%)
4. Jerry Maguire (14%)
5. Brian Flanagan (7%)

London Mums’ rating: 7/10