Some movie ideas sound better on paper than they actually play on screen. Mayday is a pleasant exception, taking a Cold War survival setup and turning it into a surprisingly lively action comedy. Directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the filmmakers behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the film puts Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh together in an unlikely buddy pairing. What follows is a fast-moving escape story filled with aerial action, comedy and plenty of affection for Top Gun.
Set in 1987, the story follows American Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy Kelly, played by Reynolds, after his aircraft crashes behind enemy lines in the former Soviet Union. Kelly survives the crash but quickly discovers that staying alive may be easier than figuring out how to get home. His unlikely companion becomes Nikolai Ustinov, or Nick, a former KGB agent played by Branagh who has a curious love for America and especially Top Gun. The setup could easily have become a predictable Cold War thriller, but the film keeps leaning into the odd-couple dynamic instead.
Mayday Finds the Fun in a Cold War Escape
The film wastes little time putting Kelly in trouble. After ejecting from his fighter plane, he wakes up restrained on a bed, with Nick initially looking more like a dangerous captor than the unlikely ally he will eventually become. Kelly manages to escape, but his circumstances soon force him back into Nick’s orbit. With the KGB closing in, the two men realise that cooperation may be their only realistic chance of making it out of Soviet territory.
That premise gives Goldstein and Daley plenty of room to mix physical comedy with genuine danger. The pair are thrown into increasingly chaotic situations involving planes, trains and automobiles, while the story keeps the threat of capture hanging over them. The movie also gives viewers an unusually close look at Kelly’s crash, turning his ejection and subsequent fall into one of its most visually striking sequences. It is the kind of scene that immediately makes you understand why this story could have benefited from a theatrical presentation.
The Top Gun references are another enjoyable part of the film rather than simply being decoration. Nick’s admiration for the 1986 fighter-pilot classic becomes part of his personality, giving the movie a running joke that also connects the two characters despite the enormous political divide between them. Kelly’s reaction to Nick’s enthusiasm adds another layer to their relationship. The result is a buddy comedy where the Cold War itself becomes part of the joke without completely overwhelming the action.
Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh Carry the Film
The biggest reason Mayday works is the chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh. Reynolds plays Kelly relatively straight, allowing Branagh’s Nick to provide much of the eccentric energy. That contrast gives both actors room to work, particularly when the situation becomes increasingly absurd and neither character can quite believe what the other is doing.
Branagh clearly has fun with Nick, including the character’s Russian accent and his enthusiasm for American culture. His performance gives the former KGB agent a personality beyond the standard hardened spy archetype. Reynolds, meanwhile, knows when not to push the comedy, and his restrained reactions often make Branagh’s antics even funnier. In several scenes, the actors do not need a big punchline because their expressions sell the moment.
The supporting cast adds more colour to their escape. Marcin Dorociński plays KGB chief Alexander Volkov, who is determined to track Kelly down, while David Morse appears as Kelly’s father, Harold. Maria Bakalova plays Anna, Nick’s estranged daughter, and her deadpan reaction to her father’s unexpected arrival provides another amusing contrast to his larger-than-life personality.
The story also benefits from keeping Nick and Kelly’s relationship at its centre. The political backdrop matters, but the movie is ultimately more interested in what happens when two men from opposite sides of the Cold War are forced to depend on each other. Their growing understanding of one another provides the emotional thread beneath the jokes and action.
The Action Deserved a Bigger Canvas
There is a genuine sense that Mayday could have made more noise as a theatrical release. The film has the ingredients of the kind of action comedy that traditionally benefited from a cinema crowd: recognisable stars, large-scale set pieces, physical humour and a high-concept premise that can be understood almost immediately.
The action becomes particularly entertaining when the escape grows increasingly desperate. The film moves through different forms of transportation and locations, giving the chase an energetic quality rather than keeping the characters trapped in one setting. By the finale, the scale has escalated considerably, with the pair stealing a nuclear weapons carrier and a commercial airliner. It is deliberately outrageous, but that exaggeration fits the movie’s comedic approach.
The visual humour works alongside the larger set pieces rather than replacing them. There are slapstick moments, reaction-based jokes and situations where Kelly and Nick’s personalities clash at exactly the wrong time. The running gag surrounding Kelly’s nickname, Assassin, is one example of how the movie turns a small character detail into a joke that lands because of the circumstances surrounding it.
That balance is where Goldstein and Daley show their strengths. Their earlier work has already demonstrated an interest in mixing comedy with genre filmmaking, and Mayday follows that same instinct. The movie does not always need to choose between being funny and being exciting. Often, its best moments arrive when both are happening simultaneously.
Mayday Review: Should You Watch It?
Mayday is not trying to reinvent the action-comedy formula, and that is perfectly fine. Its biggest achievement is understanding what makes this particular combination of characters entertaining and giving Reynolds and Branagh enough space to play off each other. The Cold War setting provides an unusual backdrop, while the Top Gun connection gives the story an extra layer of personality.
There are moments when the film’s heightened situations push close to cartoon territory, but the same quality is also part of its charm. The movie knows that the premise is ridiculous and embraces it instead of pretending to be a serious geopolitical thriller. That confidence helps the comedy land, particularly when the increasingly desperate escape forces Kelly and Nick into situations neither man could have predicted.
For viewers looking for something lighter this weekend, Mayday makes a strong case for itself. The Reynolds-Branagh pairing is the main attraction, the action has enough scale to keep things moving, and the Cold War setup gives the familiar buddy-comedy formula a fresh setting. It may leave you wondering how much more fun this would have been with a packed cinema audience, but as a streaming action comedy, it still delivers an enjoyable ride.
