'Mayday' Review: An 80s-Fueled, Action-Packed Blast
Apple Tv pairs Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh in ‘Mayday’, an 80s-fueled, action-packed comedy that continues to prove why the streamer may just be the best streaming service available.
‘Mayday’ takes place in the 1960s during the Cold War and centers on a U.S. Navy Pilot named Troy Brennan (Ryan Reynolds) who, after crash landing behind enemy lines on a top secret mission, must reluctantly align himself with a former KGB agent named Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh) in order to navigate the cold, treacherous wilderness littered with Russian enemies in order to get himself home. On paper, the pairing of Reynolds and Branagh seems quite bizarre to say the least, but in practice they make for a winning team that helps keep this action comedy light and breezy on its feet.
Reynolds and Branagh thankfully come to play here, each delivering game, energetic performances that help propel the story forward with plenty of entertainment value to be had. Reynolds may not be operating too far outside his comedic wheelhouse, but he’s thankfully more restrained and he gives Troy some much needed layers and an emotional underpinning that makes him easy to root for. Branagh is simply delightful as Nikolai, bringing an impressive physicality, charm and warmth to the character, a man who is enamored with American culture and yearns to live a live in the states to finally put the past firmly behind him. The two of them have terrific chemistry together, both playing off the other wonderfully as they navigate their characters’ prickly, but consistently amusing relationship and slowly learn more about the other on their perilous journey. The film does an admirable job fleshing out their respective characters as well, exploring the close-knit relationship between Troy and his terminally ill father Harold (David Morse) and the estranged dynamic between Nikolai and his daughter Anna (Maria Bakalova).
Behind the wheel are directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo that has brought audiences beloved comedies like ‘Game Night’ and ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’. They continue to be one of Hollywood’s most underrated and underutilized directorial teams, further showcasing their prowess for comedy and more so genre work. The camerawork is playful, dynamic and full of creativity, especially in the action set pieces that become increasingly more immersive and entertaining has the film progresses. In fact, there’s a car chase sequence in the film’s climax that is ludicrously fun and well done, utilizing some great practical stunt work and staging. They have a confident and assured handle on tone, making the Cold War setting feel lively and also deeply dangerous. This is a comedy that never takes itself too seriously, but never undercuts its more emotionally charged moments, Daley and Goldstein making sure the balance is always present. Simply put, these two deserve far more high profile projects because they continuously showcase a delightfully singular voice and versatility behind the camera.
However, not all of the comedy lands in this one, the script from Goldstein and Daley not always hitting the comedic bullseye. While Branagh and Reynolds have a palpable comedic chemistry, the material they’re given doesn’t always meet them at their level, trying their best to sell a fair amount of dialogue that needed to be tightened up and sharpened. It also doesn’t help that the villain of the film played here by Marcin Dorocinski is bland and lackluster to say the least, certainly walking the walk and talking the talk of an 80s villain, but failing to register as anything memorable. The film also suffers from some inconsistent and distracting CGI and green screen work, an issue that can certainly take the audience out of the film’s more action heavy moments due to a lack of immersion and more so believability.
‘Mayday’ proves that not all straight to streaming films are built the same, offering a terrific and deeply enjoyable pairing of Reynolds and Branagh in addition to some stellar direction from Daley and Goldstein. What the film may lack in depth or political intrigue, it more than makes up for in action-packed entertainment that feels like an endearing love letter to the action films of the 80s. If this action comedy makes anything abundantly clear, it’s that Apple TV is head and shoulders above its streaming competition and the gap is quite substantial.