Mayday (2026): Ryan Reynolds Flies, Kenneth Branagh Soars
Lieutenant Troy Brennan's reconnaissance mission over Soviet territory goes awry, forcing him to crash-land and survive in Russian wilderness while evading capture or rescue.
There is a moment about twenty minutes into Mayday when Kenneth Branagh finally appears, and the entire movie seems to sit up straighter, tighten its belt, and remember why it came to work.
Until then, we are flying familiar skies with Ryan Reynolds, an actor who has perfected one very specific character: the charming smart aleck who treats mortal danger like an awkward encounter at Costco. Reynolds can do this persona in his sleep, and I am beginning to suspect several of his recent performances were filmed while he was technically still under the duvet.
Mayday is a Cold War action comedy set in 1987. Reynolds plays Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a hotshot U.S. Navy aviator sent on a secret reconnaissance mission over Soviet territory. The mission goes sideways, his aircraft goes downward, and Troy lands in the Russian wilderness with enemy soldiers hunting him and his government preparing to deny knowing anything about him.
You know the arrangement. Governments in spy movies disavow agents more often than teenagers disavow their parents at the mall.
Troy’s best chance of getting home comes through Nikolai Ustinov, an eccentric former KGB operative played by Branagh. Nikolai has his own complicated history, his own agenda, and a powerful motivation involving his family. The two men form the kind of uneasy partnership Hollywood loves: one suspicious American, one unpredictable Russian, several armed pursuers, and absolutely no opportunity to sit down with a qualified mediator.
The film was written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the team behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. They understand comic rhythm and know how to keep an adventure moving. Even when Mayday begins recycling encounters like a municipal blue-bin program, it rarely becomes boring.
The action arrives quickly and keeps coming. Troy and Nikolai spend much of the movie avoiding, outsmarting, or eliminating what appears to be Russia’s entire wholesale inventory of disposable soldiers. Every time the heroes turn a corner, another squad seems to arrive. I have seen fewer Russians at a Moscow military parade.
The logic behind some of these escapes is approximately as sturdy as a lawn chair in a hurricane. The trick is to turn off the analytical portion of your brain before pressing play. Place it gently in a drawer beside your tax receipts and any remaining faith you have in airline customer service. You can retrieve it after the credits.
Reynolds is effective when he shows restraint. His chemistry with Branagh is solid, and their banter gives the movie much of its energy. When Reynolds tosses away a line and lets it breathe, the comedy works. The problem comes when he senses a joke landing and circles back for another pass, then another, until the runway is littered with debris.
Some of his wisecracks feel recycled from earlier movies. Others simply fall flat. Reynolds knows what audiences expect from him, but knowing your brand can become a trap. Eventually, the sarcastic motormouth routine starts feeling less like a performance and more like somebody pressing the Ryan Reynolds button on a vending machine.
I like Reynolds. He has charisma, timing, and the rare ability to mock a movie while still keeping us invested in it. But you cannot play essentially the same fellow forever. John Wayne had a recognizable screen presence too, but at least he occasionally changed hats.
Branagh is the revelation here.
Once Nikolai enters the story, Branagh begins quietly stealing the movie while Reynolds is still searching the couch cushions for another punchline. He brings commanding physical presence, bravado, eccentricity, and genuine emotional weight. He also handles the action far more convincingly than I expected.
At times, Branagh seems more like the film’s true action star. This is a Shakespearean actor and acclaimed director marching through an Apple buddy comedy as if someone told him the Soviet Union had insulted Hamlet. He looks completely committed, and that commitment makes even the sillier material easier to accept.
His comedic timing is even better. Branagh does not appear to be begging us to laugh. He delivers his lines naturally and lets the humour emerge from the character. As a result, several of the movie’s biggest laughs belong to him.
The family storyline also gives Nikolai a personal reason to take enormous risks. It provides some much-needed heart beneath all the gunfire and Cold War machinery. Unfortunately, the filmmakers handle that motivation in the most predictable Hollywood fashion possible. You will probably recognize where the emotional runway is pointing long before the movie begins its descent.
Still, Branagh sells it. That is what strong actors do. They take familiar material and make it feel temporarily less familiar.
Marcin Dorociński brings the necessary menace to the opposition, while Maria Bakalova and David Morse help fill out a capable supporting cast. Nobody embarrasses themselves, but this remains a two-man operation, and one of those men walks away with the picture tucked under his arm.
There are also a few aviation details that may cause knowledgeable viewers to develop a nervous facial twitch.
The opening distress transmission uses “Mary, Alpha, Yankee, Delta, Alpha, Yankee” to spell MAYDAY. The spelling is obvious, but “Mary” is not the correct NATO phonetic word for M. That would be “Mike.” Perhaps Mike had the day off.
The movie also plays with the history of the SR-71 Blackbird, an aircraft famous for never being shot down during its operational career. Twelve were lost through accidents or mechanical failures, but enemy fire never brought one down. The Blackbird’s traditional defensive strategy was beautifully straightforward: fly faster than whatever was trying to kill it. There is something refreshingly uncomplicated about that.
Then Anna asks Troy whether he is an Air Force pilot. He says no, he is a Navy pilot. Technically, the Navy generally calls its qualified flyers naval aviators. Is that a fatal error? No. Will military enthusiasts notice it and begin explaining the distinction while everyone else is trying to watch the movie? Absolutely. This is why every family needs a separate couch for the history buff.
Mayday does not bring many new ideas to the runway. We have seen the secret mission, government disavowal, reluctant alliance, endangered family, and mismatched buddy routine before. It is Top Gun, Behind Enemy Lines, and Midnight Run tossed into a Cold War blender with the Reynolds setting locked on “wisecrack.”
Yet the movie remains watchable because it moves quickly, the leads have chemistry, and Branagh performs like he is unwilling to let the whole operation crash. The result is an entertaining action comedy that works best when Reynolds eases back and Branagh is allowed to charge forward.
Mayday is not cleared for greatness, but it lands safely enough. Kenneth Branagh keeps it in the air, Ryan Reynolds occasionally rattles the cabin, and the story arrives at its destination using a flight plan Hollywood has filed many times before. Final ranking: 6.9/10.
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