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A racist ideology seeping from the internet’s fringes into the mainstream is being investigated as a motivating factor in the supermarket shooting that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York. Most of the victims were Black. Ideas from the “great replacement theory” filled a racist screed supposedly posted online by the white 18-year-old accused of targeting Black people in Saturday’s rampage. Authorities were still working to confirm its authenticity. Certainly, there was no mistaking the racist intent of the shooter. WHAT IS THE ‘GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY’? Simply put, the conspiracy theory says there’s a plot to diminish the influence of white people. Believers say this goal is being achieved both through the immigration of nonwhite people into societies that have largely been dominated by white people, as well as through simple demographics, with white people having lower birth rates than other populations. The conspiracy theory’s more racist adherents believe Jews are behind the so-called replacement plan: White nationalists marching at a Charlottesville, Virginia, rally that turned deadly in 2017 chanted “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!” A more mainstream view in the U.S. baselessly suggests Democrats are encouraging immigration from Latin America so more like-minded potential voters replace “traditional” Americans, says Mark Pitcavage, senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism. How long has racism existed? Broadly speaking, the roots of this “theory” are that deep. In the U.S., you can point to efforts to intimidate and discourage Black people from voting — or, in antagonists’ view, “replacing” white voters at the polls — that date to the Reconstruction era, after the 15th Amendment made clear suffrage couldn’t be restricted on account of race. In the modern era, most experts point to two influential books. “The Turner Diaries,” a 1978 novel written by William Luther Pierce under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, is about a violent revolution in the United States with a race war that leads to the extermination of nonwhites. The FBI called it a “bible of the racist right,” says Kurt Braddock, an American University professor and researcher at the Polarization and Extremism Research & Innovation Lab. Renaud Camus, a French writer, published a 2011 book claiming that Europe was being invaded by Black and brown immigrants from Africa. He called the book “Le Grand Remplacement,” and a conspiracy’s name was born. WHO ARE ITS ADHERENTS? To some of the more extreme believers, certain white supremacist mass killers — at a Norway summer camp in 2011, two Christchurch, New Zealand, mosques in 2019, a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2017 — are considered saints, Pitcavage says. Those “accelerationist white supremacists” believe small societal changes won’t achieve much, so the only option is tearing down society, he says. The Buffalo shooter’s purported written diatribe and some of the methods indicate he closely studied the Christchurch shooter — particularly the effort to livestream his rampage. According to apparent screenshots from the Buffalo broadcast, the shooter inscribed the number 14 on his gun, which Pitcavage says is shorthand for a 14-word white supremacist slogan. A written declaration by the Christchurch shooter was widely spread online. If the message attributed to the Buffalo shooter proves authentic, it’s designed to also spread his philosophy and methods to a large audience. IS THE THEORY MAKING WIDER INROADS? While more virulent forms of racism are widely abhorred, experts are concerned about extreme views nonetheless becoming mainstream. In a poll released last week, The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 1 in 3 Americans believe an effort is underway to replace U.S.-born Americans with immigrants for electoral gain. Also Read: Vigil planned after 2 killed, 4 wounded in campus shooting On a regular basis, many adherents to the more extreme versions of the “great replacement” theory converse through encrypted apps online. They tend to be careful. They know they’re being watched. “They are very clever,” Braddock says. “They don’t make overt calls to arms.” WHO’S TALKING UP THIS THEORY? In particular, Tucker Carlson, Fox News’ most popular personality, has pushed false views that are more easily embraced by some white people who are concerned about a loss of their political and social power. “I know that the left and all the gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World,” he said on his show last year. “But they become hysterical because that’s what’s happening, actually, let’s just say it. That’s true.” A study of five years’ worth of Carlson’s show by The New York Times found 400 instances where he talked about Democratic politicians and others seeking to force demographic change through immigration. Fox News defended the host, pointing to repeated statements that Carlson has made denouncing political violence of all kinds. The attention paid by many Republican politicians to what they see as a leaky southern border along the United States has been interpreted, at least by some, as a nod to the concern of white people who worry about being “replaced.” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik’s campaign committee was criticized last year for an advertisement that said “radical Democrats” were planning a “permanent election insurrection” by granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants who would create a permanent liberal majority in Washington. Stefanik represents a New York district. Pitcavage says he’s concerned about the message Carlson and supporters are sending: “It actually introduces the ‘great replacement theory’ to a conservative audience in an easier-to-swallow pill.”    

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder after a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot near “The Bean” sculpture in downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park, which is among the city’s most popular tourist attractions. The shooting prompted a curfew at the park to combat violence. Officials announced Sunday that minors will not be allowed in the park after 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday without an adult, but they did not comment on how the curfew will be enforced. The 17-year-old, who was taken into custody following Saturday evening's shooting, also faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated battery, police announced Sunday night. He was due in juvenile court Monday. The 16-year-old was shot in the chest near the giant, mirrored structure and was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. Another teen, who was allegedly armed with a ghost gun — a weapon that does not have a serial number and can’t be traced — was arrested in connection to the shooting, police said. In total, 26 minors and five adults were arrested during the gathering in the park on Saturday evening. A total of eight guns were confiscated and five gun arrests were made, police said. “We must also have zero tolerance for young people carrying firearms or settling petty disputes with acts of violence,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “We all must condemn this behavior in the strongest terms possible.” READ: Man arrested in fatal shooting of student at SUNY-Potsdam Hundreds of people were at the park earlier Saturday as part of demonstrations around the U.S. against the recently leaked draft opinion that suggests the Supreme Court is prepared to overturn the nationwide right to abortion. It is unclear if the teen who was shot had taken part in the 1 p.m. demonstration, however participants had largely dispersed by late afternoon. The shooting comes amid a surge in deadly violence in the city in recent years. This year, Chicago has recorded 779 shooting incidents and 194 homicides, compared to 898 shootings and 207 homicides during the same period in 2021, according to figures last updated by the Chicago Police Department on May 8. Chicago and some other U.S. cities reported dramatic spikes in homicide totals last year. Chicago’s 797 homicides in 2021 — its highest toll for any year in a quarter century — eclipsed the totals in the two bigger U.S. cities, surpassing Los Angeles’ tally by 400 and New York's by nearly 300. “The Bean" sculpture is a popular tourist attraction in downtown Chicago. It is formally known as “Cloud Gate,” but it came to be known as “The Bean” for its bean-like shape.

Black people going about their daily lives — then dying in a hail of bullets fired by a white man who targeted them because of their skin color. Substitute a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, with a church in South Carolina, and Malcolm Graham knows the pain and grief the families of those killed Saturday are feeling. He knows their dismay that racial bigotry has torn apart the fabric of their families. “America’s Achilles’ heel continues to be ... racism,” said Graham, whose sister, Cynthia Graham-Hurd, was among nine parishioners fatally shot by avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof in 2015 during Bible study in Charleston. “As a country, we need to acknowledge that it exists,” Graham said. “There’s a lack of acknowledgment that these problems are persistent, are embedded into systems and cost lives.” For many Black Americans, the Buffalo shooting has stirred up the same feelings they faced after Charleston and other attacks: the fear, the vulnerability, the worry that nothing will be done politically or otherwise to prevent the next act of targeted racial violence. Law enforcement officials said suspected gunman Payton Gendron, 18, drove 200 miles from his hometown of Conklin, New York, to Buffalo after searching out and specifically targeting a predominantly Black neighborhood. Also read: 2 minors dead, 8 wounded in shooting at Pittsburgh party He shot 11 Black people and two white people at the grocery store, authorities said. Ten people died. A 180-page document, purportedly written by Gendron, gives plans for the attack and makes references to other racist shootings and to Roof. The document also outlines a racist ideology rooted in a belief that the U.S. should belong only to white people. All others, the document said, were “replacers” who should be eliminated by force or terror. The attack was intended to intimidate all non-white, non-Christian people and get them to leave the country, it said. The idea that those killed at the Tops Friendly Market lost their lives because of the shooter's racism is “sick,” said Steve Carlson, 29, who is Black and grew up knowing Katherine Massey, one of the victims. “It’s not right. You don’t pick what ethnicity you’re born to,” Carlson said. “These people were just shopping, they went to go get food for their families.” At State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Deacon Heyward Patterson was mourned during services Sunday. Pastor Russell Bell couldn't wrap his mind around the attack and Patterson's death. “I don’t understand what that is, to hate people just because of their color, to hate people because we’re different. God made us all different. That’s what makes the world go ’round,” he said. But as abhorrent as the shooting was, it was hardly an isolated incident. The history of the United States is filled with white supremacist violence, starting from even before its official origins. Black people have borne and continue to bear the brunt of much of it, but other groups have also been targeted in attacks because of their race, including Latinos in the 2019 shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, where 22 people were killed. Gunmen with biases against religion and sexual orientation have also carried out targeted violence: the shootings at a San Diego synagogue in 2019 and a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016. Democratic Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, who is gay and of Peruvian descent, immediately had flashbacks to the Pulse nightclub shooting that left 49 victims dead. The shooter targeted gay patrons in what was a largely Latino crowd. “It’s déjà vu all over again in Orlando," said Smith, who represents an Orlando district. “2016 seems like a long time ago, but in 2022 there’s a lot more hatred and bigotry out there.” Experiencing violence of any kind is obviously traumatic, but the impact of targeted violence like this has ripples on a broader level. Also read: Police arrest suspect in South Carolina mall shooting “To be targeted for these things that you cannot control, it’s not only extremely painful emotionally, but it also impacts the way you perceive the world going forward after that," said Michael Edison Hayden, spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which advocates for civil rights. Hate crime laws are on the books in recognition of that reality. The effect of events like these is “you've increased the vulnerability of everyone who looks like the target," said Jeannine Bell, a professor at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law. “This is a different type of crime because it impacts not just the victims, but also the community." While there's always hand-wringing and dismay after incidents like these, that hasn't translated into a commitment to address the bigotry that underlies them, said Cornell Williams Brooks, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former president and CEO of the NAACP. He's weary of political leaders’ promises to do more about white supremacist threats and gun violence. “Count the number of sympathy cards and flowers, prayers and thoughts that have been extended to the victims of mass shootings, to the victims of racialized violence,” he said. “Do we really need (politicians) showing up to our places of worship to help bury our folks and do nothing to stop the carnage?”

A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church on Sunday before being stopped and hog-tied by parishioners in what a sheriff’s official called an act of “exceptional heroism and bravery.” One person was killed and four others were critically wounded at Geneva Presbyterian Church in the city of Laguna Woods, Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials said. The suspect in the shooting, an Asian man in his 60s, was in custody and deputies recovered two handguns at the scene, Undersheriff Jeff Hallock said. A motive for the shooting wasn't immediately known but investigators don't believe the gunman lives in the community, he said. Also read:3 shot and killed in Milwaukee following night of violence The majority of those inside the church at the time were believed to be of Taiwanese descent, said Carrie Braun, a sheriff’s spokesperson. Between 30 and 40 people were gathered for lunch after a morning church service when gunfire erupted shortly before 1:30 p.m., officials said. When deputies arrived, parishioners had the gunman hog-tied and in custody. “That group of churchgoers displayed what we believe is exceptional heroism and bravery in intervening to stop the suspect. They undoubtedly prevented additional injuries and fatalities,” Hallock said. “I think it’s safe to say that had people not intervened, it could have been much worse." A man died at the scene and a fifth injured person suffered minor injuries, officials said. All the victims were adults. The investigation was in its early stages, Hallock said. He said the many unanswered questions include whether the assailant attended the church service, if he was known to church members and how many shots were fired. The afternoon lunch reception was honoring a former pastor of a Taiwanese congregation that has services at Geneva, according to a statement from the Presbytery of Los Ranchos, a church administrative body. “Please keep the leadership of the Taiwanese congregation and Geneva in your prayers as they care for the those traumatized by this shooting,” the presbytery’s Tom Cramer said in a statement on Facebook. Federal agents from the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded. The FBI also sent agents to the scene to assist the sheriff. Laguna Woods was built as a senior living community and later became a city. More than 80% of residents in the city of 18,000 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles are at least 65. Also read: Gunman opens fire on Brooklyn subway; at least 10 shot Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said on Twitter that he was closely monitoring the situation. “No one should have to fear going to their place of worship. Our thoughts are with the victims, community, and all those impacted by this tragic event," the tweet said. The incident occurred in an area with a cluster of houses of worship, including Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist churches and a Jewish synagogue. On its website, Geneva Presbyterian Church describes its mission as “to remember, tell, and live the way of Jesus by being just, kind, and humble.” “All are welcome here. Really, we mean that! … Geneva aspires to be an inclusive congregation worshipping, learning, connecting, giving and serving together.” The shooting came a day after an 18-year-old man shot and killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. “This is upsetting and disturbing news, especially less than a day after a mass shooting in Buffalo,” said U.S. Rep Katie Porter, whose district includes Laguna Woods. “This should not be our new normal. I will work hard to support the victims and their families.”

Milwaukee police on Sunday were investigating three separate overnight shootings in which a 17-year-old boy and two men in their 20s died. The shootings came a night after a night of violence in which 21 people were shot and wounded in three other attacks near the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee as the Bucks were taking on the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of their NBA playoffs series. Those shootings led authorities to impose an 11 p.m. curfew on Saturday and Sunday. The Bucks canceled a fan watch party for Sunday afternoon's decisive Game 7. The Milwaukee County medical examiner said a 21-year-old man died after a shooting that happened near 11th and Rogers streets around 11:45 p.m. Saturday, Fox6 News reported. Also read: Gunman opens fire on Brooklyn subway; at least 10 shot About 40 minutes later, a 17-year-old Milwaukee boy was killed in a shooting that police say might have been related to a robbery. The victim had a gun on him. The third fatal shooting happened near 19th Street and Lincoln Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Police said a 28-year-old local man died. Police hadn't released the victims' names or arrested anyone in the shootings as of early Sunday afternoon. The 11 p.m. curfew requiring everyone age 20 or younger to be off the streets was in effect when the shootings happened. Police said Sunday that Saturday night was “peaceful and uneventful” in the downtown area and that no citations for curfew violations were issued. Everyone wounded in Friday's shootings, which happened within blocks of the arena, is expected to survive. At least 11 people have been arrested in connection with those shootings. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the crowds were noticeably smaller at restaurants and bars downtown during Sunday's game compared to previous playoff games. Also read: 5 shot, unexploded devices found at NYC train station At the Oak Barrel Public House about a block away from the Fiserv Forum, assistant general manager Max Bradshaw said he expected fewer families would bring their children to the area Sunday, but he predicted the crowds will come back eventually. “People like to have a short memory like that,” he told the newspaper. But Demetre Davis, who works at McGillicuddy’s near the intersection where 17 people were shot Friday, said police need to do more to control the crowds and keep the area safe.

A white 18-year-old wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera opened fire with a rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, killing 10 people and wounding three others Saturday in what authorities described as “racially motived violent extremism.” Police said he shot 11 Black and two white victims before surrendering to authorities in a rampage he broadcast live on the streaming platform Twitch. Later, he appeared before a judge in a paper medical gown and was arraigned on a murder charge. “It is my sincere hope that this individual, this white supremacist who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community, will spend the rest of his days behind bars. And heaven help him in the next world as well,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking near the scene of the attack. The massacre sent shockwaves through an unsettled nation gripped with racial tensions, gun violence and a spate of hate crimes. In the day prior to the shooting, Dallas police said they were investigating a series of shootings in Koreatown as hate crimes. The Buffalo attack came just one month after another mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway train wounded 10 people. The suspected gunman in Saturday's attack on Tops Friendly Market was identified as Payton Gendron, of Conklin, New York, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Buffalo. It wasn't immediately clear why Payton had traveled to Buffalo and that particular grocery store. A clip apparently from his Twitch feed, posted on social media, showed Gendron arriving at the supermarket in his car. The gunman shot four people outside the store, three fatally, said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia. Inside the store, a security guard who was a retired Buffalo police officer fired multiple shots, but a bullet that hit the gunman’s bulletproof vest had no effect, Gramaglia added. The gunman then killed the guard, the commissioner said, then stalked through the store shooting other victims. “This is the worst nightmare that any community can face, and we are hurting and we are seething right now,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said at the news conference. “The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained.” Police entered the store and confronted the gunman in the vestibule. “At that point the suspect put the gun to his own neck," Gramaglia said. Two officers talked him into dropping the gun, the commissioner said. Twitch said in a statement that it ended Gendron's transmission “less than two minutes after the violence started.” At the earlier news briefing, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia pointedly called the shooting a hate crime. “This was pure evil. It was straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community, outside of the City of Good neighbors ... coming into our community and trying to inflict that evil upon us," Garcia said. Witnesses Braedyn Kephart and Shane Hill, both 20, pulled into the parking lot just as the shooter was exiting. They described a white male in his late teens or early twenties sporting full camo, a black helmet and what appeared to be a rifle. READ: 3 Israelis killed in stabbing attack near Tel Aviv “He was standing there with the gun to his chin. We were like what the heck is going on? Why does this kid have a gun to his face?” Kephart said. He dropped to his knees. “He ripped off his helmet, dropped his gun, and was tackled by the police.” Tops Friendly Markets released a statement saying, “We are shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.” Officials said the rifle Gendron used in the attack was purchased legally but that the magazines he used for ammunition were not allowed to be sold in New York. The shooting came little more than a year after a March 2021 attack at a King Soopers grocery in Boulder, Colorado, that killed 10 people. Investigators have not released any information about why they believe the man charged in that attack targeted the supermarket. NAACP President Derrick Johnson issued a statement in which he called the Buffalo shooting “absolutely devastating.” “Our hearts are with the community and all who have been impacted by this terrible tragedy. Hate and racism have no place in America. We are shattered, extremely angered and praying for the victims’ families and loved ones,” he added. The Rev. Al Sharpton called on the White House to convene a meeting with Black, Jewish and Asian leaders “to underscore the Federal government (is) escalating its efforts against hate crimes.” At the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden was receiving regular updates on the shooting and the investigation and had offered prayers with the first lady for the victims and their loved ones. “The president has been briefed by his Homeland Security advisor on the horrific shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., this afternoon. He will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as further information develops," she said. Attorney General Merrick Garland was briefed on the shooting, Justice Department spokesperson Anthony Coley said. More than two hours after the shooting, Erica Pugh-Mathews was waiting outside the store, behind police tape. “We would like to know the status of my aunt, my mother's sister. She was in there with her fiancé, they separated and went to different aisles," she said. "A bullet barely missed him. He was able to hide in a freezer but he was not able to get to my aunt and does not know where she is. We just would like word either way if she’s OK.”

Smoke from several major wildfires on Thursday ringed Colorado Springs, Colorado's second-largest city, torching eight homes, closing the city's airport and causing thousands of evacuations, as dry conditions and heavy winds spread the blazes quickly throughout the area. As night fell on Colorado Springs, located 112.6 km south of the state capital Denver, dozens of fire crews from across the region responded to the grass fires and were "gaining the upper hand," according to Denver CBS4 News. According to Colorado Public Radio, one fire engulfed eight homes in the Skylark Mobile Home Park, where 500 homes were emptied and 1,000 residents were evacuated to a nearby fitness center. Fifty firefighters responded to the blaze that saw several propane tanks venting flames 15 meters in the air. Meanwhile, a fire east of town consumed another 0.4 square km, forcing 50 residents to evacuate and prompting Colorado Springs Airport to issue a shelter-in-place order for about an hour, according to Colorado Springs Fire Department Fire Marshall Brett Lacey. About 100 firefighters, 28 deputies and 63 police officers assisted with battling the fires and evacuations. Lacey told reporters that no structures were lost or damaged, and no injuries were reported. Also Read: Wildfires tear across several states driven by high winds According to First Alert 5 Weather Forecast, strong to dangerous winds and extremely low daytime relative humidity helped create extreme fire conditions in southern Colorado. According to local media reports, another fire broke out shortly before noon in southeast Colorado Springs, sparked by the catalytic converter of a sheriff deputy's car. The same day, a fourth wildfire was reported west of the city in Teller County, south of the popular tourist attraction Pikes Peak, resulting in forced evacuations.    

Eleven people died and 31 others were rescued after a vessel capsized off the coast of Puerto Rico on Thursday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard tweeted that as of Thursday evening responding crews have rescued 31 survivors -- 11 female and 20 male, adding that "11 deceased have been recovered." The vessel, which capsized approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of Puerto Rico's Desecheo Island, was suspected of taking part in an "illegal migrant voyage," the agency said, adding that most of the people on the boat were reportedly from Haiti. Also Read: UN says boat capsizes off Libya, 35 dead or presumed dead  Coast Guard watchstanders received a communication roughly Thursday noon reporting the sight of "a capsized vessel with people in the water who did not appear to be wearing life jackets." The Coast Guard and its partner agencies continue to respond as it remains unclear how many people had been on the boat. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory.    

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has said her country would continue to work closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other partners in pressing for a just and peaceful resolution to the crisis in Myanmar. Many Southeast Asian leaders are now in Washington for the US-ASEAN Special Summit. Sherman Thursday held a meeting with representatives of Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG), an administration set up by opponents of the February 1 military coup that plunged the country into chaos. She met the NUG representatives, including Zin Mar Aung, in Washington. Sherman underscored robust US support for the people of Myanmar in the face of the regime's brutal crackdown and pledged to continue providing support to all those working peacefully towards the restoration of Myanmar's path to inclusive democracy. The deputy secretary thanked Zin Mar for her courage and dedication to the people of Myanmar and offered US support for an inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous democracy for all. Also read: Dhaka seeks pro-active support from Manila, ASEAN for early repatriation of Rohingyas

Early on in “Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise hops on his sleek motorcycle, wearing Aviator sunglasses and a leather jacket with patches, and speeds into a time machine. No, that’s not right. It’s actually us who take a trip back. More than 30 years after Cruise smirked his way to the cocky heights of the ’80s as the maverick Navy pilot codenamed Maverick, he effortlessly picks up the character in a new chapter of “Top Gun” that is an absolutely, thoroughly enjoyable ride — a textbook example of how to make a sequel. “Top Gun: Maverick” satisfies with one foot in the past by hitting all the touchstones of the first film — fast motorcycles, the song “Danger Zone,” military fetishisms, humorless Navy bosses, shirtless bonding sports, “the hard deck,” bar singalongs and buzzing the tower — and yet stands on its own. It’s not weighed down by its past like the last “Ghostbusters” 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 don’t ruminate. “You think up there, you’re dead,” he states. This is Cruise at his most Cruise-iest, coiled, sure and arrogant, teeth gleaming in the sunshine. His once-rival Iceman — Val Kilmer — 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: “Talk to me, Goose,” he’ll 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 they’re next. “The future is coming and you’re not in it,” 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 Goose’s son, codename Rooster. Will Maverick be responsible for cooking another Goose? Also Read: Tom Cruise surprises Comic-Con with 'Top Gun' sequel trailer 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 she’s also not a push-over for on-again-off-again Maverick and, in a key scene, she’s the comfortable pilot of a boat and he’s the clueless one. This is a more thoughtful Maverick, more gloomy. “Top Gun: Maverick” 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, he’s called “pops.” 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 Maverick’s personal stuff — wooing the barmaid, repairing his relationship with Goose’s kid — 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 Maverick’s bike, hug him tight and join him on the highway to the danger zone. “Top Gun: Maverick,” a Paramount Pictures release that hits theaters May 27, is rated PG-13 for “sequences of intense action and some strong language.” Running time: 131 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.