"I've been a little slow - sometimes I'm a little slow," the star joked to AFP on Wednesday at the world premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick," aboard a former US aircraft carrier. in San Diego, Southern California.

Slow isn't a word you usually associate with Tom Cruise, one of the world's most famous actors, who landed in a helicopter on a red carpet at the event.

In his new film, which will be released in France on May 25 and in the United States two days later, elite pilot Maverick returns to the Navy's Top Gun School to train the latest generation of daring young aviators.

Among them is Rooster, Goose's son, whose death in the first film still haunts Maverick as he prepares his proteges for a perilous mission.

Fans at the world premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" in San Diego, California on May 4, 2022 Robyn Beck AFP

"The sense of romance, the sense of adventure - it's a world you want to be in," Tom Cruise says of his 'Top Gun' return at age 59. .

"And, obviously, there's always something going on with aviation."

The 1986 film popularized the idea of ​​a "wingman", a term designating a pilot who supports and protects another, flying alongside him.

For Tom Cruise, the spectators were particularly sensitive to these close ties which unite the members of the world of aviation.

"The culture in this world is very unique...And it's really interesting that people can understand these friendships," he says.

Even if the film opens with a nostalgic sequence aboard an aircraft carrier, with a brief return of Val Kilmer alongside Tom Cruise, it is above all based on a group of relatively unknown young actors.

“I always knew that was how I wanted to open the film, from the start, to allow the public to say to themselves + you are going to have what you want, believe me +”, assures Tom Cruise.

Actors Tom Cruise (left) and Miles Teller at the "Top Gun: Maverick" world premiere in San Diego, California on May 4, 2022 Robyn Beck AFP

It also includes technological advancements like combat drones that the actor, who has long held a very real pilot's license, says he has spent decades observing and analyzing.

"It's definitely an evolution," he says.

"Always Lower"

In "Top Gun: Maverick", female pilots join the elite squadron, including Phoenix, played by Monica Barbaro.

"I was able to learn from incredible airwomen," enthuses the actress, who trained with US Navy pilots.

"They're smart, they're smart, they don't have to aggressively prove themselves. They're just amazing."

Actor Tom Cruise arrives in a helicopter at the world premiere of "Top Gun: Maverick" in San Diego, California on May 4, 2022 Robyn Beck AFP

If the Navy had been "suspicious" during the filming of the first opus, this time it gave its full support, according to director Joseph Kosinski.

"Those who make the decisions in the Navy today are guys who signed up in the 1980s because of + Top Gun +," he says.

The film largely eschews special effects, and the actors were filmed in the cockpits of fighter jets, experiencing intense gravitational forces as the craft came perilously close to the Earth's surface.

Despite everything, Tom Cruise "wanted to go ever lower," says Joseph Kosinski.

"There's a sequence in this movie where we went so low, I guarantee you'll never see anything like it again," promises the director.

"He was still pushing... But I think he's happy with the result."

© 2022 AFP