‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Has a Secret Weapon Even Its Makers Didn’t Know About: A Great and Timely Villain (Hint: It’s Russia)

The striking if not really shocking success of “Top Gun: Maverick” is built around the simple fact that it’s an exquisitely executed blockbuster. It seems to have everything a commercial retro action movie would need: a prime movie star — one of the only ones left — who still knows how to fold a movie around his image; jaw-dropping aerial-combat sequences that blow away any hint of green-screen fakery (because those are real actors lifting off and flying); the kind of ’80s nostalgia that, at this point, is almost too potent to call mere nostalgia — it’s more like nostalgia… Read Full Article