It’s impossible to watch “Mayday” and not expect the “Sucker Punch.”
This reporter credits Breitbart News’ John Nolte for the phrase, meaning the moment when a movie will insult/attack/mock conservative audiences.
It happens a lot, and watching “Mayday” makes that expectation palpable. Why?
The buddy comedy pays homage to both all things ’80s and Reagan-era America. No joke! It’s inconceivable that a mainstream Hollywood movie would serve up the latter without qualifiers, right?
The moment does arrive, but in a way that’s modest and rooted in historical precedent. That leaves a charming buddy comedy straight out of the ’80s with some welcome 2026 flourishes.
Ryan Reynolds is Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a Navy pilot who gets shot down during a dangerous mission over Mother Russia. This is 1987, and the Cold War is still raging. You wouldn’t bet money on Troy making it out alive in such inhospitable conditions.
Enter Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh) – call him Nik, please. He’s a former KGB agent who disowned his party after consuming American culture.
- “Top Gun”
- “McDonalds”
- Bruce Springsteen music
The needle drops are endless and oh, so satisfying.
Nik patches up a wounded Troy and tries to keep him safe. Troy would rather go it alone, American style, and fight for his own safety.
Are you sure about that?
The two become unlikely allies, with Nik keeping Troy safe at every turn while dooming his future with his homeland. Would Russian officials take kindly to a former agent helping an American spy flee their country?
What follows is a winning and often funny buddy romp powered by two certifiable pros. We know Reynolds can quip better than most actors while still deep in his REM sleep.
The comic surprise here is Branagh.
He’s flat-out great as the American-loving Russkie, a man whose isolated home is plastered with USA merch. Yeah, he’s a Kenny Loggins fan. And his “Born in the U.S.A.” cassette tape gets a heavy workout.
Writer-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein (“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”) keep the comedy lively and bright. Sight gags. Slow burns. They’re not reinventing the wheel, just leaning into classic comedy tropes.
And it works, thanks to the irrepressible leads.
The film wants to deconstruct the U.S. versus Russian narrative in human ways. Russian citizens weren’t monsters, just a populace under a cruel dictatorship that robbed them of so much.
The screenplay offers some gentle, cross-cultural connections, but it doesn’t get in the way of the fun. A subplot involving Nik’s lesbian daughter (Maria Bakalova) is also handled with care. It also shows America as a far more tolerant nation.
Troy’s ailing father (David Morse) offers that aforementioned Sucker Punch Lite, but it’s a minor element and likely necessary to get the project greenlit. It also ensures that “Mayday” won’t be confused with Chinese-style propaganda.
The action sequences pop better than necessary, with agile camera work and inventive choreography. We’ve seen too many fight scenes to count at this point in pop culture, so any film that stands out from the crowd has done something right.
It’s surreal that it took so long for a mainstream buddy comedy to dress down Communism, but here we are.
The government philosophy communism “flies in the face of human nature,” Troy warns in the early moments. Now, how hard is that to admit?
In a way, “Mayday” should have dropped closer to July 4. It’s a much better fit for the nation’s 250th birthday, a testament to A-listers willing to salute America.
Even if it took a Canadian (Reynolds) and a Brit (Branagh) to make it happen. What a country!
HiT or Miss: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Genre: Action/Comedy
Runtime: 1h 50 minutes
Where to Watch: Apple TV (Sept. 4)
Family Friendly? Mostly. Comic violence, some strong language and mature themes. (PG:13)