Ryan Reynolds is one of those actors where you hope what you see is what you get. He seems genuinely funny and likeable, fully aware that he is one of the luckiest sons of bitches ever to walk the Earth. Not above poking fun at himself. Even more so when you watch things like Welcome To Wrexham. Then you remember this is Hollywood and start to worry it is all a carefully curated act.
He is one of the leads in Mayday, the new project from potential Star Trek saviours, the Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves writer / director duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
The action comedy follows U.S. Air Force pilot Troy ‘Assassin’ Kelly (Reynolds) who, during a covert mission over Soviet Russia, finds his jet colliding with another and forcing him to eject. Stranded deep in enemy territory, he teams with a former KGB operative (Branagh), working as a carpenter, who agrees to help him escape Russia for his own reasons.
The aggregators have Mayday trending towards Deadpool numbers, review-score-wise. Here is what the summary pages say:
“It’s all very silly… But there are laughs, stunts and wacky chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh.”
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“It’s a movie that mostly works, thanks largely to fluid direction from the pair and a truly entertaining performance from Kenneth Branagh.”
Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
“No need to declare an emergency here — thanks to two compelling central performances from Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, engaging aesthetics and well-choreographed fight scenes, Mayday makes for a solid comedy-action combo.”
Sophie Butcher, Empire
“Branagh, it transpires, is a natural action brawler and dazzles in several bone-crunching set pieces.”
Kevin Maher, The Times
“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.”
Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
It’s not all glowing, though. As always, there are counter viewpoints:
“For all its retro jokes about Cabbage Patch Kids and Top Gun, Mayday still hasn’t figured out how to make the era funny.”
Monica Castillo, AV Club
“A mirthless mess whose ideas about 1980s international relations are almost as lousy as the incessant one-liners spouted by Reynolds.”
Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
We could potentially have another entry into the category occupied recently by things like The Wrecking Crew and Heads Of State. Tailor-made for couch-borne entertainment in the age of streaming.
Maria Bakalova and David Morse co-star in Mayday, which is available on Apple TV now.
