MAYDAY (APPLE TV+) (2026)

SYNOPSIS: When hotshot U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly is sent on a top-secret mission into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War, the operation implodes, leaving him stranded behind enemy lines. Discovered by Nikolai Ustinov, a gruff ex-KGB agent with a penchant for American culture, Troy thinks he’s toast — but could an unlikely alliance between the two lead to Troy’s rescue and a bond neither saw coming?

MOVIE REVIEW:

At this point in his career, Ryan Reynolds is just playing Ryan Reynolds or Deadpool. As expected, his character, Troy Kelly, in Mayday is a brash, loudmouth Navy pilot. After a reconnaissance mission goes awry, Troy crash-lands in Russia and is rescued by an ex-KGB agent, Nikolai (Kenneth Branagh), who happens to be a big fan of American pop culture and Top Gun.

Troy promises to help Nikolai get asylum while the latter helps get Troy to the US embassy in Moscow. In short, it’s the sort of action-packed buddy comedy that promises madcap action set pieces and a dazzling bromance set against the backdrop of the Cold War era.

For the most part, Mayday actually works. Reynolds might be doing his usual shtick, but it’s Branagh who shines here as a grizzled agent with an unconvincing Russian accent who regrets not spending enough time with his estranged daughter, Anna (Maria Bakalova). There is a brief subplot involving Nikolai and Anna, but it’s the chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh that surprisingly lands better than anything else here.

It’s worth noting that longtime collaborators Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Spider-Man: Homecoming) wrote and directed Mayday, blessing the project with enough humour and action to keep things moving. Similar to Colin Firth in Kingsman, Branagh gets his chance to deliver some tough, hard-punching knocks and kicks in a rustic pub. In fact, Reynolds, who is at least a decade younger than Branagh, takes a back seat for the entire duration.

As it turns out, there are some clever action setups, like an explosive confrontation in Anna’s apartment and the finale, which has the duo hijacking a missile-head carrier along the busy streets of Moscow, with Budapest doing a decent job standing in for the Russian capital. In all fairness, the action is carried out in the most slapstick way possible. You know half of it was probably shot on a soundstage with clever CGI assisting, but the action pieces serve the story well instead of being there mainly for cosmetic touches.

Mayday is the sort of buddy comedy that would likely have popped up on the big screen in the ’80s and ’90s. It’s generally entertaining, runs at a brisk pace and, of course, is completely forgettable despite some attempts at incorporating underlying socio-political messages. However, this is clearly one of the better original action comedies to come along in September. Just set your expectations right and you’re sure to have an enjoyable time.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee