DUBAI: Despite the occasional shot at gravitas — along the lines of “Maybe Russians aren’t all bad. Maybe America’s not always that great” — this Apple TV action-comedy, set in the Eighties during the Cold War, is a lowbrow but entertaining romp based around the unlikely bromance between a US Navy fighter pilot and an ex-KGB agent.
The pilot is Troy Kelly (Ryan Reynolds), a maverick (yes, there are “Top Gun” references throughout) but brilliant flyboy who accepts a black-ops spying mission in the highest of high-tech planes. He must fly deep behind enemy lines to check out suspicious activity.
His plane is shot down in a remote, snow-heavy forest, but (very) fortunately for him, just 12 kilometers from the cabin of the ex-KGB agent Nikolai (who prefers to go by just Nik) Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh), who just happens to be a huge fan of all things American, particularly “Top Gun,” which he rewatches constantly on a smuggled-in VHS tape.
With the US unwilling to help Troy unless he can get himself to the embassy in Moscow, Nik agrees to help him make the long, dangerous journey to the capital, since Troy promises he can get Nik and his estranged daughter asylum.
So off the unlikely pair set (eventually, after Nik has shown himself to be surprisingly sprightly and very handy in a fight) — travellng by plane, train and automobile, constantly harried by Russian security operatives led by Volkov (Marcin Dorocinski) and constantly bickering.
There’s an interesting study in the difference between a movie star and an actor with these two leads — Branagh being very much a heavyweight in the latter department, imbuing Nik with a depth the script doesn’t quite deserve. Reynolds, as ever, basically plays Ryan Reynolds — think easy charm, witty repartee and self-effacing humor (though never quite self-effacing enough to leave you in any doubt about his heroism).
Somehow it works, though; both seemingly having a lot of fun in what’s essentially a very silly movie with some slick action scenes, smoothly handled by writer-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
It’s the chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh that makes “Mayday” tick. If you’re a fan of either, you’ll enjoy it.
