‘Top Gun: Maverick’ soars above the 1986 original

“Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) – “Top Gun” (1986) flew Tom Cruise into the Southern California skies and exploded his stardom into the stratosphere. Thirty-six years later, he returns as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in a sequel that soars above the original. During the biggest, boldest moments – and there are plenty of them in this 152 million-dollar budget blockbuster – Maverick “takes it right into the Danger Zone,” and yes, this film will “take your breath away.” With a 131-minute runtime – which tops a comparatively thinner 105 minutes of the…