I don’t envy the screenwriters working on a Top Gun sequel.In case you missed the big news, Tom Cruise, who starred in the 1986 blockbuster, was asked about “rumours” of a Part 2 on an Australian morning show this week.The ageless actor broke into his patented grin maximus, a full-faced smile that is designed to disorient mere mortals with its inscrutable exuberance. Then he replied as if the TV hosts were hard of hearing or he was auditioning for the lead role in a Jacob Two-Two production: “It’s true. Yeah, it’s true. Yes. Yes. It’s true. It’s true ... It’s happening. It is definitely happening.”Since nostalgia is the drug Hollywood loves to peddle these days, a return to a military base in Miramar should come as no surprise. Top Gun is one of those films that, three decades later, still conjures fond memories of a simpler time in which Cold War intrigue could serve as the feel-good subtext with a known enemy (Russia) and a free world that could safely place its trust in young and cocky American naval pilots with killer bodies and emotional blind spots.Just hearing the words “Top Gun” takes me back to the ’80s in supersonic speed. I am a teenager alone in my bedroom, practising volleyball spikes with a balled-up sock while blasting “Danger Zone” as my parents downstairs glance at the ceiling and wonder how any of this qualifies as giving their children a better life.Improvised “dog tags” — a dyed-green rabbit’s foot from the Science Centre gift shop — dangle around my pencil neck. Prescription Ray-Bans idle on a nearby shelf, ready for air-to-air combat lessons with a gorgeous instructor or an impromptu motorcycle joyride to the outreaches of Mississauga that will never happen. That night, I will cuddle my pillow and fall asleep humming “Take My Breath Away.” Now I ask: how can a new Top Gun possibly connect ...
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