Ryan Reynolds portrays the U.S. Air Force pilot Troy Kelly in Mayday, premiering Sept. 4 on Apple TV.Jan Thijs/Supplied
Mayday
Written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Kenneth Branagh and Maria Bakalova
Classification N/A; 111 minutes
Streaming on Apple TV starting Sept. 4
Critic’s Pick
The new Soviet Russia-set action film Mayday has as many green flags as it raises big, fat red ones.
The warning signs are certainly plentiful, starting with the fact that the big-budget film is not being released in theatres, instead debuting straight on Apple TV. Then there’s the leading presence of Ryan Reynolds, who, from the marketing materials presented, seems to be doing his grating “ain’t I a stinker?” shtick, which has been a pox on the Hollywood landscape since way before Deadpool first cracked wise. And wait, is that Kenneth Branagh, who has no Russian heritage to speak of and only a shaky confidence in his Russian accent, playing yet another Moscow heavy following his turns in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Tenet? Mayday, indeed.
Yet look beyond the alarm bells and you’ll see that the movie is written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the duo behind Game Night and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, two seemingly disposable Hollywood films that were far more crafty and wickedly entertaining than anyone might have expected. If there are any working filmmakers who can shake up what on paper seems like a staid project, it’s them. And, for the most part, that’s just what Goldstein and Daley do with Mayday.
A rip-roaringly paced, imaginatively shot buddy comedy that feels inspired by just enough rewatches of Top Gun, Black Rain and Red Heat without feeling completely redundant, Mayday plays to everyone’s strengths.
The buddy comedy pairs Reynolds, right, with Kenneth Branagh, playing a former KGB agent who has become obsessed with the American dream.Jan Thijs/Supplied
The set-up is simple: It is 1987, the Cold War is raging and U.S. Air Force pilot Troy Kelly (Reynolds) is behind enemy lines in the Russian wilderness, following a crash of his fighter jet during a black-ops mission. Just as he is about to be taken into custody by Russian forces, Kelly is rescued by Nikolai Ustinov (Branagh), a former KGB agent who has become obsessed with the American dream. The two then embark on a run-and-gun mission across the country, with Kelly promising Ustinov sanctuary in the United States – and all the McDonald’s he can eat – if he gets him to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
While Goldstein and Daley sometimes allow Reynolds to slip in a few too many wiseacre gags, they mostly keep the dialogue economical and the action visceral. What’s more, the pair are keenly aware that their many shootouts, fist fights and car chases need to be shot with equal parts outrageousness and discipline. This might seem like common sense for Hollywood but feels like a technique abandoned by studios and streamers over the past decade and a half. Mayday’s set pieces are visually coherent, intricately designed and paced with a keen sense of, well, fun.
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The whole thing moves at such a brisk clip that I can even forgive Branagh’s more-Boris-and-Natasha-than-believable Russian accent, and the soundtrack’s heavy reliance on Bruce Springsteen. (I’m glad that the Apple budget afforded the directors to gain such expensive song rights, but you’re only allowed to needle-drop I’m on Fire once, not twice.)
The only lingering shame of Mayday is that absolutely everyone will watch this big-scale film on their respective small screens. There is no guarantee, and in fact a lot of doubt, that the movie might have made the box-office impact of Apple’s last big theatrical release, F1. But it could have made a decent dent, and offered a big, loud counterpoint to the idea that Reynolds might be a star who, Deadpool aside, is best left to streaming. There’s life in the guy yet – so long as you have the right people directing him.