Early on in Tom Cruise hops on his sleek motorcycle, wearing Aviator sunglasses and a leather jacket with patches, and speeds into a time machine.

No, thatB次元官网网址檚 not right. ItB次元官网网址檚 actually us who take a trip back.

More than 30 years after Cruise smirked his way to the cocky heights of the B次元官网网址�80s as the maverick Navy pilot codenamed Maverick, he effortlessly picks up the character in a new chapter of B次元官网网址淭op GunB次元官网网址� that is an absolutely, thoroughly enjoyable ride B次元官网网址� a textbook example of how to make a sequel.

B次元官网网址淭op Gun: MaverickB次元官网网址� satisfies with one foot in the past by hitting all the touchstones of the first film B次元官网网址� fast motorcycles, the song B次元官网网址淒anger Zone,B次元官网网址� military fetishisms, humorless Navy bosses, shirtless bonding sports, B次元官网网址渢he hard deck,B次元官网网址� bar singalongs and buzzing the tower B次元官网网址� and yet stands on its own. ItB次元官网网址檚 not weighed down by its past like the last B次元官网网址淕hostbustersB次元官网网址� sequel, but rather soars by using the second to answer and echo issues with the first.

Cruise is, of course, back, reprising his rebel test pilot now based in a forgotten corner of the Mojave Desert, a mere captain when he should be a general because he keeps bucking authority. The years have not calmed Maverick from his impulsive, hot-headed style. Pilots do, he argues; they donB次元官网网址檛 ruminate. B次元官网网址淵ou think up there, youB次元官网网址檙e dead,B次元官网网址� he states. This is Cruise at his most Cruise-iest, coiled, sure and arrogant, teeth gleaming in the sunshine.

His once-rival Iceman B次元官网网址� Val Kilmer B次元官网网址� is back, too, a huge Navy muckety-muck now. And even Goose is back, by way of his son, the similarly mustachioed Miles Teller, who is strikingly similar looking to Anthony Edwards, the actor who played the doomed wingman in the first film. That death looms large for Maverick even 30 years on: B次元官网网址淭alk to me, Goose,B次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檒l whisper to himself.

Some things have changed, of course. The F-14A Tomcats have been replaced by the F/A-18 and the all-male cocky pilots of the first film have been infiltrated by a few cocky women. Unfortunately, it seems these are the last days of envelope-pushing men and women in naval aviation; pilotless aircraft are more reliable and theyB次元官网网址檙e next. B次元官网网址淭he future is coming and youB次元官网网址檙e not in it,B次元官网网址� Maverick is told by an imperious officer played with delicious calm fury by Jon Hamm.

But Maverick, on the edge of extinction, has one last job for the Navy: Train a group of young hotshots for a dangerous bombing mission in Iran. One potential snag: The young hotshots he must train include GooseB次元官网网址檚 son, codename Rooster. Will Maverick be responsible for cooking another Goose?

Director Joseph Kosinski brings a visceral feel to the film, somehow making us feel claustrophobic in the wide open sky as pilots swoop and swerve. He wonderfully alternates between loud scenes outside with airplane engines roaring and quiet ones indoors of people almost whispering. He also switches from brilliant sun to dark interiors.

One welcome touch in the screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie is a new love interest for Maverick. Jennifer Connelly plays a divorced bar owner who has both a townhouse, a beach house, a sailboat and a Porsche, so business is good. But sheB次元官网网址檚 also not a push-over for on-again-off-again Maverick and, in a key scene, sheB次元官网网址檚 the comfortable pilot of a boat and heB次元官网网址檚 the clueless one.

This is a more thoughtful Maverick, more gloomy. B次元官网网址淭op Gun: MaverickB次元官网网址� is in some ways a meditation on what happens to gifted rebels later in life. He is riven by guilt and in one scene he is picked up and unceremoniously tossed out of a bar by the very same hotshots that he was 30 years ago. Worst, heB次元官网网址檚 called B次元官网网址減ops.B次元官网网址�

What is remarkable is that Cruise looks to have indeed found a way to thwart time. His chiseled body and still-boyish face are indistinguishable from the pilots three decades his junior during a football game on the beach.

The film handles MaverickB次元官网网址檚 personal stuff B次元官网网址� wooing the barmaid, repairing his relationship with GooseB次元官网网址檚 kid B次元官网网址� while also fulfilling its promise as an action movie. There are jets pulling 10Gs, the metal sound of cockpit sticks pulled in gear, epic dogfights and the whine of machinery balking at the demands put on it. The action even takes a few unexpected and thrilling turns.

So jump on MaverickB次元官网网址檚 bike, hug him tight and join him on the highway to the danger zone.

B次元官网网址淭op Gun: Maverick,B次元官网网址� a Paramount Pictures release that hits theaters May 27, is rated PG-13 for B次元官网网址渟equences of intense action and some strong language.B次元官网网址� Running time: 131 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

B次元官网网址擬ark Kennedy, The Associated Press