Jonathan Millar 
Anil Krishna 
James Oconner 
Mayday Review: Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh Make an Odd Pair That Works
© Apple TV+
Mayday is the kind of movie that sounds slightly strange when you first hear the setup. Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, stuck together in an action-comedy set during the Cold War? It shouldn’t necessarily work as well as it does, but thankfully the two actors have enough chemistry to carry the film through some of its weaker moments. Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, Mayday arrives on Apple TV on September 4, mixing action, comedy and a little bit of drama without getting too serious about any of it.
Buddy movies live or die on the relationship between their two leads, and that’s where Mayday gets a lot right. Reynolds is obviously comfortable playing the wisecracking action hero, while Branagh brings a very different energy to the screen, which makes their scenes together more fun than you might expect. It’s an unusual pairing, especially for a story set against the Cold War, but the contrast between them becomes one of the movie’s biggest strengths.
An Unlikely Cold War Alliance
The story takes place in 1987, with Troy, a highly skilled U.S. Navy pilot, flying a secret mission over Soviet territory. Things go wrong, naturally, and Troy is shot down before ejecting and landing somewhere in the middle of the Soviet wilderness. That’s where he meets Nikolai Ustinov, a mysterious local who happens to have a rather surprising obsession with American pop culture.
Nikolai takes Troy back to his isolated cabin, surrounded by snow, and looks after him while he recovers. The two don’t exactly become best friends right away. In fact, they spend a fair amount of time getting on each other’s nerves, but that changes once the Soviet authorities discover Troy’s presence and start hunting for him. Now they have little choice but to escape together. Nikolai agrees to help Troy, but he wants something in return: a way into the United States so he can finally chase the life he’s been dreaming about.
Reynolds and Branagh Are the Main Attraction
The movie knows exactly what it has with Reynolds and Branagh, and it doesn’t try to hide it. Troy and Nikolai are almost exaggerated versions of the countries they come from, which fits the Cold War setting and gives the movie plenty of room for jokes about their differences. But underneath all that, there’s a fairly simple idea about how people on opposite sides of a political conflict aren’t necessarily that different from one another. They still want safety, freedom, a better life and, occasionally, someone they can trust.
Reynolds and Branagh have very different screen personalities, but that’s actually what makes the pairing work. Reynolds can lean into the sarcastic, quick-talking side of Troy without much effort, while Branagh gives Nikolai a stranger and more unpredictable quality. It has the feel of a traditional buddy movie, even if the setting and characters are a little unusual.
The story itself moves along at a decent speed for most of the movie. Once Troy and Nikolai are on the run, there’s a steady mix of action, betrayals, unexpected turns and jokes, so there’s usually something happening. The middle section does slow down, though, and you can feel the movie struggling a little to get from one big sequence to the next. It’s not a major problem, but the film probably could have been tighter there.
The Action Looks Good, and the Music Helps
Goldstein and Daley handle the action well, particularly when things get chaotic. The camera stays active without turning the bigger sequences into a mess, so you can actually follow what’s happening instead of just watching a collection of quick cuts. The movie has enough scale to feel like an action film without forgetting that its two leads are supposed to be the main reason we’re watching.
The 1980s soundtrack is another nice touch, and Bruce Springsteen’s music becomes a surprisingly important part of the movie’s identity. His songs fit the period and also add something to the story’s bigger idea about America, the Soviet Union and people trying to connect despite the politics separating them. It’s not exactly subtle, but it works, and the soundtrack gives some of the quieter moments more personality.
Final Verdict
Mayday isn’t a perfect action-comedy, and the pacing dip in the middle keeps it from being as sharp as it could have been. Still, Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh make for a surprisingly entertaining team, and their chemistry gives the movie enough personality to get past some of its rougher patches. The action is energetic, the humour mostly lands, and the Cold War setting gives the usual buddy-movie formula a slightly different flavour.
The biggest reason to watch it is really the two leads. Reynolds brings the expected chaos and sarcasm, while Branagh gets to play against him in a role that feels quite different from what you’d normally expect. Add in the strong 1980s atmosphere and Bruce Springsteen-heavy soundtrack, and Mayday ends up being a pretty enjoyable action-comedy, even if it occasionally loses its way in the middle.
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