Why Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh's 'Mayday' Is the Action Comedy Hollywood Needs Right Now

Why Mayday Feels Like a Love Letter to '80s Action Movies

If you grew up watching Ryan Reynolds evolve from Deadpool's snarky mercenary to one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, then Kenneth Branagh went from Shakespearean grandeur to playing Voldemort and Magneto, you already know this pairing shouldn't work. And yet—against all cinematic logic—Mayday, the new Apple TV+ action-comedy that dropped on September 4th, absolutely works.

Written and directed by the dynamic duo of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (yes, the guys behind Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), this film is essentially everything we wanted from 1980s Cold War thrillers—with modern sensibilities wrapped around it. Think Top Gun meets Airplane! with a healthy dash of buddy-cinema magic.

The plot follows Troy Kelly (Reynolds)—a cocky but good-hearted American commercial pilot grounded in Soviet Russia during the 1980s—who somehow becomes entangled with Ivan Vasili, a rogue ex-KGB agent played by none other than Kenneth Branagh. What unfolds is part escape thriller, part laugh-out-loud comedy, and entirely unforgettable.

How Does It Actually Compare?

Critics have been surprisingly unanimous in their praise. The Hollywood Reporter's Maria Baklova called Reynolds and Branagh's chemistry "infectious" despite noting the story itself is fairly derivative. Collider went even harder, calling them a "dynamite duo" and declaring Mayday "an explosive action epic." Meanwhile, Deadline's review highlighted that Branagh genuinely steals every scene—he's found something of a new calling as a wry, world-weary ex-spice.

What makes Mayday special isn't just its star power—it's that it reminds us why we love dumb, fun movies. In an era where everything has to be the next big universe-building event, Mayday says: what if we just had two great actors chasing each other through a snowy Russian landscape while things explode behind them? Because sometimes, that's all we need.

Other standout streaming picks right now include Netflix's new crime thriller Animals starring Ben Affleck and the K-drama phenomenon The Scandal featuring Son Ye-jin—but honestly? Nothing quite hits like the chaotic charm of Reynolds and Branagh bouncing off each other for 110 minutes. Stream it. Then stream it again for those quotable Branagh lines you missed the first time. (＃`Д´)