Apple TV/ Mayday
Somewhere over Soviet airspace in 1987, a hotshot Navy pilot’s top-secret mission goes horribly, hilariously wrong, leaving him stranded deep in Russian territory. Ryan Reynolds wakes up in an enemy stranger’s cabin, and that, dear reader, is how “Mayday” begins. Not with a bang, exactly. More like a controlled explosion of quips.
Released today on Apple TV, “Mayday” marks Reynolds’ reunion with John Francis Daley, who co-starred alongside him as diner cook Mitch in the 2005 cult comedy “Waiting…” Two decades later, Daley is behind the camera instead of in front of it, co-writing and co-directing alongside his longtime creative partner Jonathan Goldstein (the pair previously teamed up on “Horrible Bosses” and “Vacation”). Together they put Reynolds back to doing what he does best: getting into absurd trouble and talking his way out of it, one sarcastic one-liner at a time.
So What’s “Mayday” Actually About?
Reynolds plays Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a US Navy pilot sent on a black-ops reconnaissance flight into Russian territory at the height of the Cold War. Naturally, things go sideways almost immediately, and Troy finds himself stranded behind enemy lines with no ride home and a growing list of people who would very much like him dead.
Enter Nikolai Ustinov, played with delightful eccentricity by Kenneth Branagh, an ex-KGB agent who is equal parts terrifying and utterly charmed by American pop culture. Nikolai discovers the wounded pilot, and instead of turning him in, decides to help him survive partly out of principle, partly because he is, in his own words, a mega-fan of “Top Gun.” What follows is a buddy comedy stitched together with gunfights, awkward Russian hospitality, and the kind of odd-couple chemistry that only works when both actors are clearly having a blast.
Rounding out the cast are Maria Bakalova as Nikolai’s sharp-tongued daughter Anna, Marcin Dorociński as a menacing Soviet officer on Troy’s trail, and David Morse as Troy’s father back home, sweating out every second of his son’s disappearance. It’s a small cast doing a lot of heavy lifting, and for the most part, they pull it off.
The Good: Reynolds and Branagh Are a Genuinely Fun Pair
Let’s get the obvious part out of the way if you’ve seen a Ryan Reynolds movie before, you know exactly what you’re signing up for. The rapid-fire sarcasm, the fourth-wall-adjacent smirk, the sense that he’s narrating his own chaos in real time. “Mayday” doesn’t reinvent that formula, but it does something smarter: it pairs Reynolds with an actor who can actually match him beat for beat.
Kenneth Branagh, of all people, turns out to be a comic revelation here. Watching a Shakespearean heavyweight play a gruff KGB agent who gets misty-eyed over American diner culture is the kind of casting choice that shouldn’t work on paper and absolutely does on screen. Branagh has spoken about throwing himself into the physical side of the role, arriving early to train with the stunt team and drill the fight choreography and it shows, because the man throws a punch like he’s delivering a soliloquy.
The action sequences, too, land better than expected for a movie that’s essentially “Top Gun” crossed with a Cold War road trip. The filmmakers leaned into practical, grounded action and longer takes that let the choreography actually play out on screen, and it gives the fights and chases a scrappier, more handmade feel than most modern blockbusters even if it never quite reaches theater-worthy spectacle.
The Not-So-Good: A Familiar Flight Path
Here’s the catch. If you’ve seen literally any Ryan Reynolds movie from the last ten years “Free Guy,” “The Adam Project,” “Red Notice,” take your pick; you’ve basically seen the emotional beats of this one already. Wisecracking protagonist gets in over his head, forms an unlikely bond with a mismatched partner, cracks jokes through mortal danger, learns a small lesson about trust along the way. “Mayday” follows that blueprint closely enough that you could probably predict the third act simply by knowing Reynolds is in it.
Some reviewers have pointed out that the film leans a little too hard into “Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds,” and it’s a fair criticism. When the jokes land, they land well. When they don’t, it can feel like watching a stand-up set that occasionally remembers it’s also supposed to be an action movie about surviving Soviet Russia.
There’s also the small matter of where you’re watching this. “Mayday” is an Apple Original Film produced with Skydance Media, and it skipped a traditional theatrical run in favor of dropping straight onto Apple TV. It has the scale and star power of a summer blockbuster, but you’ll be watching it on your couch, popcorn optional.
Does the Comedy Actually Land?
For our money, yes more often than not, even if some critics have found the humor a little inconsistent. The film’s funniest stretch comes early, when Nikolai realizes exactly who he’s rescued and can’t decide whether to be thrilled or horrified. Branagh plays the moment like a man meeting his favorite celebrity and a national security threat at the same time, which, given the plot, he sort of is. There’s a running bit involving Nikolai’s obsession with Americana that never quite overstays its welcome, and Bakalova gets a handful of scenes as Anna where she steals focus simply by refusing to be impressed by either man in the room.
If you’re the type of viewer who came for spy-thriller tension and left disappointed that it’s mostly punchlines with the occasional explosion, that’s a fair expectation mismatch. But if you walked in knowing “buddy comedy” was doing the heavy lifting in that “action-buddy-comedy” label, “Mayday” mostly delivers the goods.
Final Verdict: Is “Mayday” Worth Streaming Tonight?
At just under two hours, “Mayday” is breezy, occasionally very funny, and never pretends to be more than what it is. It’s not going to win anyone over who’s already tired of the Reynolds shtick, but for everyone else, it’s a solidly entertaining watch the kind of movie that’s perfect for a lazy evening when you want something with jokes, a bit of Cold War intrigue, and zero homework required to follow along.
Branagh is the real surprise here, proving there’s a whole untapped lane of “serious actor doing comedy” that more studios should be exploring. Pair that with Reynolds doing exactly what audiences show up for, and “Mayday” earns itself a comfortable spot in the “good enough for a Friday night” category, even if it never quite reaches the heights its Top Gun-inspired marketing promises.
Bottom line: “Mayday” won’t be remembered as Ryan Reynolds’ best work, but it’s a genuinely fun ride, thanks largely to an unexpectedly brilliant Kenneth Branagh. Stream it, laugh a little, and don’t expect it to reinvent the genre just enjoy the flight, turbulence and all.
“Mayday” is streaming now, exclusively on Apple TV.
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