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DUBAI: Despite the occasional shot at gravitas \u2014 along the lines of \u201cMaybe Russians aren\u2019t all bad. Maybe America\u2019s not always that great\u201d \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
The pilot is Troy Kelly (Ryan Reynolds), a maverick (yes, there are \u201cTop Gun\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cTop Gun,\u201d which he rewatches constantly on a smuggled-in VHS tape.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
So off the unlikely pair set (eventually, after Nik has shown himself to be surprisingly sprightly and very handy in a fight) \u2014 travellng by plane, train and automobile, constantly harried by Russian security operatives led by Volkov (Marcin Dorocinski) and constantly bickering.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s an interesting study in the difference between a movie star and an actor with these two leads \u2014\u00a0Branagh being very much a heavyweight in the latter department, imbuing Nik with a depth the script doesn\u2019t quite deserve. Reynolds, as ever, basically plays Ryan Reynolds \u2014 think easy charm, witty repartee and self-effacing humor (though never quite self-effacing enough to leave you in any doubt about his heroism).<\/p>\n
Somehow it works, though; both seemingly having a lot of fun in what\u2019s essentially a very silly movie with some slick action scenes, smoothly handled by writer-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the chemistry between Reynolds and Branagh that makes \u201cMayday\u201d tick. If you\u2019re a fan of either, you\u2019ll enjoy it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n