Mayday (2026) Review: Ryan Reynolds in a Cold War Comedy

Here’s the setup: U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Kelly (Reynolds) is flying a top-secret recon mission somewhere over hostile territory when his fancy jet gets shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was clearly not in the mission briefing. Stranded behind enemy lines with a busted radio and a bad attitude, he stumbles - quite literally - into Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh, having the time of his life).

Ustinov is a disgraced ex-KGB agent, a paranoid eccentric who’s been living in a dilapidated farmhouse with a pet goose and more conspiracy theories than actual rations. He’s got his own agenda, which involves stealing something from his former handlers, and he sees Kelly as either a pawn or a meal ticket - it’s hard to tell. The two form a grumpy, reluctant alliance, pursued by a ruthless Soviet colonel (Marcin Dorociński, playing it 100% straight, which makes it funnier) who wants them both dead. What follows is a chase across snowy landscapes, through sabotaged train stations, and into the belly of a secret bunker where the film’s third act goes full Die Hard with jokes.

Goldstein knows his lane. He doesn’t try to make Mayday into a prestige drama. Instead, he leans hard into the fish-out-of-water dynamic, and that’s where the movie wins. Reynolds is in full Deadpool-adjacent mode, firing off pop-culture quips that anachronistically reference things that haven’t happened yet (the timeline is a bit fuzzy, and honestly, who cares). But instead of feeling tired, his schtick gets a fresh jolt because he’s bouncing off Branagh. And Branagh - dear God, Branagh - is the reason to buy a ticket. He’s not playing against type so much as he’s playing a man who’s forgotten his own type. He’s theatrical, twitchy, and delivers every line like it’s Shakespearean iambic pentameter about potato rationing. It’s a performance that shouldn’t work next to Reynolds’s improv-y smirk, yet they create a rhythm that’s genuinely funny.

The action is functional. The plane crash sequence is a jolt of kinetic energy, and a later chase involving a stolen armored car and a frozen lake is staged with enough spatial clarity that you never get lost. It’s not John Wick-level choreography, but it doesn’t need to be. This is a movie about two guys bickering in Russian and English while trying not to get blowed up.

Maria Bakalova shows up as Ustinov’s daughter, a disaffected KGB analyst who is apparently the only competent spy in the entire Soviet Union. She adds a third dynamic that occasionally steers the film toward a more grounded emotional core - a subplot about family loyalty that feels slightly forced, but Bakalova’s manic energy keeps it alive. David Morse is also there as Kelly’s gruff father, a retired general who dispenses wisdom via scratchy radio calls. It’s a wasted role, but Morse has a face made for concerned dads.

There’s a tonal wobble in the middle, where the comedy gets a little too broad (a scene involving a sedative and a goat goes on about 30 seconds too long). But the film rights itself with a finale that’s both explosive and cleverly paced, culminating in a showdown that’s less about bullets and more about who can out-bluster the other.

Pros

• The Reynolds/Branagh chemistry is pure dynamite; their bickering is the real special effect.
• Fast-paced direction that never lets the plot’s silliness become a drag.
• Genuinely funny set pieces that don’t rely on tired Cold War clichés.
• Maria Bakalova steals every scene she’s in.
• A refreshingly unpretentious, old-school buddy actioner.

Cons

• The script’s logic holes are big enough to fly a C-5 Galaxy through.
• A flabby mid-section that feels like padding.
• The villain (Dorociński) is intimidating but underwritten - he’s just “evil Colonel,” which gets old.
• Some anachronistic jokes will drive history buffs nuts.
• The supporting cast (Morse, Jane Lynch-esque figures) are criminally underutilized.

Mayday succeeds on the oldest rule in the book: never underestimate the power of two charismatic leads having a blast. It’s not a great movie in the cinematic pantheon, but it’s a thoroughly entertaining one. The current TMDb score of 7.1 feels right - it’s a good time that overdelivers on the laughs and under-delivers on the gravity. Go in with low expectations and a love for Cold War kitsch, and you’ll walk out grinning. Just don’t bring a historian.