More crucially, "TGM" pulls off the highly tricky maneuver of bringing back all the adrenaline and bravado that made the first "Top Gun" such an indelible 1980s milestone, while excising some of its more toxic elements and (at least mildly) updating its worldview. Its politics are just vague enough to inspire nearly everyone to leave the theater cheering. Who but Pete "Maverick" Mitchell could unite this deeply fractured country?

As much as the callow, high-flying original was a product of its era, the long-delayed "Top Gun: Maverick" manages to be the perfect sequel for now -- weighted with melancholy and mortality, but still striving for meaning and glory. It might just be the first movie since the beginning of the pandemic to really remind us of the sheer fun to be had in a communal theater experience.