Bob Garver
Special to Valley NewsI watched the original “Top Gun” from 1986 to prepare for “Top Gun: Maverick.” The aerial stunt work and action sequences were impressive, but like many 80s movies, it fell into the trap of having a smarmy protagonist in Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. I was particularly skeezed out by a scene where he blatantly overstepped a boundary by following prospective love interest Charlie, played by Kelly McGillis, into a ladies’ room to hit on her. Fortunately, Maverick is much better-behaved in the new movie, at least around women. He still gives his superiors headaches with his against-protocol flying style, but he’s done enough growing up in the last 36 years that I can properly root for him now.The new film opens with Maverick
