The first reactions to Top Gun: Maverick are in and they’re almost universally positive. Indeed, Fandango’s Nikki Novak said the film was the best of the last decade, praising the action and performances, saying, “It exceeds anything you could imagine. Extraordinarily tense. Perfection.”

Top Gun: Maverick takes place three decades after the first film and sees Tom Cruise’s eponymous character taking charge of a group of stand out graduates of the US Navy. The first film, which also starred Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Tom Skerritt, and Kelly McGillis, was a huge success, grossing over $350 million at the box office against a $15 million budget.

The new film sees Cruise star alongside Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, Goose’s son, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Monica Barbaro, and Manny Jacinto.

Val Kilmer also returns as Maverick’s old nemesis, Tom “Iceman” Kazansky who has, thanks to Maverick’s refusal to rank, climbed the Navy’s ladder to become commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

Not only does Mav have to answer to his old rival, one of his students is the son of Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick’s late co-pilot whose death he was partly responsible for. It means the Top Gun ace is going to have to face some old demons.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is a lot of fun, loaded to the brim with some jaw-dropping flight sequences (Tom Cruise is really a madman for some of this), tons of nostalgic callbacks to the first and a few surprisingly emotional beats. See it on the biggest, loudest screen. #TopGunMaverick pic.twitter.com/chCAxdyKe1

— Shaurya Chawla (@_ShauryaChawla) April 28, 2022

After the premiere at CinemaCon, several critics took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the film. They particularly praised the flying scenes and the cinematography. Fandango’s Erik Davis called Top Gun: Maverick  “absolutely terrific’ and wrote, “The action & flying is crazy intense & continually changes & evolves. You’re on the edge of your seat. I was not prepared for how emotional it was, too. The crowd cheered a dozen times. It’s real deal.” The Outlaw Nation’s John Rocha also showered it with praise saying the three-year wait was worth it. “The story, acting, emotions and those dogfight sequences are all excellent,” he wrote.

Barry Hertz, who was at the premiere, said the crowd were calling for the film to be played on repeat because it was so good. He wrote on Twitter: “Crowd shouts to ‘show it again!’ after #TopGunMaverick credits end. I can’t say I’d object. See this on the BIGGEST damn screen with the BEST sound system that you can find. Good on Tom Cruise for continuing to be an insane person. #CinemaCon.”

Director Joseph Kosinski has revealed that the team shot over 800 hours of footage with Cruise, one of Hollywood’s biggest proponents of practical stunts, saying it was an all-hands-on-deck effort to get the complex shots.

“We had to teach the actors about lighting, about cinematography, about editing,” Cruise, who was not at CinemaCon, said in a recent interview. “I had to teach them how to turn the cameras on and off, and about camera angles and lenses. We didn’t have unlimited time in these jets. If they were going up for 20-30 minutes, I had to make sure that we got what we needed.”

The widespread praise for Top Gun: Maverick might seem surprising since the film has taken more than 12 years to get to the big screen. Production finally started on the sequel in the spring of 2018 but would face multiple delays because of the pandemic. Originally expected to his cinemas in July 2019, the film will now arrive in cinemas three years later than planned.

Top Gun: Maverick will arrive in UK cinemas on May 25, 2022. It’ll hit cinemas in the US on May 27.