REVIEW: ‘Mayday’ Has Solid Action But a Lousy Foundation

Following the critical success and genuine fun of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Game Night, there’s now a general expectation whenever filmmaker duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are attached. Unfortunately, Mayday (2026), starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, struggles to live up to its self-imposed hype. And, unfortunately, a lot of it seems to do with the image cultivated by its leading man. 

Due to the persona he’s donned since, uh, donning the Deadpool mask, it’s easy to forget that Reynolds has proven himself to be a capable, interesting actor. But despite the foul-mouthed ‘Merc with a Mouth’ that he plays, he’s grown too considered as a performer. Yes, Deadpool is an antihero, but we’re supposed to like him. And this desire to be liked, to be a good-guy action hero, is plaguing the star outside of his most high-profile role. 

Because you need to look no further than his roles in the dark, psychological horror of The Voices, his sleazy grifter in Mississippi Grind, or the lovable doofus in The Proposal to see a worthwhile character actor. But, as is the case with so many superhero actors (Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, etc.), Reynolds is trying to cultivate a filmography as a star, rather than an actor. It’s a shame, because there are worthwhile notes in Mayday, but the story doesn’t have anything to grab onto due to this surface-level character at the center. 

Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh struggle with lackluster characters. 

Set in the ’80s, Mayday stars Reynolds as Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a U.S. Navy pilot tasked with a secret mission that will bring him into Russian territory. Taking place at the height of the Cold War, things go terribly wrong when he’s stranded behind enemy lines. His only hope for escape and survival? The American-obsessed, ex-KGB agent, Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh), who finds him injured and brings him to safety. 

Between his love for Top Gun, Bruce Springsteen, and his curiosity over what a McDonald’s Big Mac tastes like, Nikolai is the seeming perfect solution. Despite his gruff appearance, he wants to help and goes to some extraordinary lengths to keep Troy safe despite Troy’s own persistent distrust that defines the first leg of the film. Between Troy’s incessant quips and Nikolai’s earnest nature that seeps into every line of dialogue and bout of action, they’re clearly meant to be an odd couple whose dynamic injects the film with the greatest source of fun. 

And yet…and yet. Reynolds and Branagh share some chemistry and, on paper, the idea of the two works. You can see the well of potential in the distance as Troy trades in quips and Nikolai remains a steady beacon of comedic resourcefulness. But it’s all too well engineered, artificial, and insincere. The film doesn’t need to go super deep with its premise. That said, we should at least buy into the relationship that the film is centered on. 

Mayday is at its most confident in the brief bouts of intense action.

Mayday fails to achieve this. Despite the backstory about Troy’s father and Nikolai’s desire to reunite with his daughter, even these sprinkles of depth carry little weight. Instead, it all feels perfunctory and unearned. The film is either uninterested in making the two a compelling duo or Reynolds’s star persona is so locked in place that there’s no room for give. Instead, it’s just another role that coasts on his familiar sardonic wit when what the film really needed was more of Nikolai’s sincerity.

There are some enjoyable moments despite an overwhelming sensation of being stuck somewhere in the middle of the road. The action is effective in its fluidity, and Goldstein and Daley know how to craft a well-oiled, cohesive shot. There’s no losing the direction of the flow of action, the camera not just catching every blow but the weight of gravity too. 

Branagh is also effective, clearly enjoying his moment to play broad with comedy and action. While Reynolds is the more recognizable star, it’s Branagh who walks in having played the role of action hero. 

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley have delivered some gems. This isn’t one of them. 

But even with these moments of interspersed entertainment, Mayday lacks the over-the-top charm and established, distinctive personalities of Dungeons & Dragons and Game Night. It’s almost as if Goldstein and Daley thought of how much fun it would be to shoot an ’80s action flick and based an entire film around it, rather than figuring out the story first. It’s both an afterthought and a first draft of a film, one that needed greater vision and more enthusiasm to make it more than a rolling montage of half-baked storytelling against Springsteen’s most noteworthy hits. 

There are a few laughs and some well-choreographed action sequences. And Branagh almost makes you buy into the story at the center. But, despite the high-stakes plot and the two charismatic leading men, the film is forgettable before it hits the credits. 

There’s something here that’s worthwhile, but Goldstein and Daley struggle to make it all feel worth the time and effort. Lackluster and devoid of the infectious glee that made their previous two films such hits, Mayday stalls out before it’s gotten the chance to take off. 

Mayday is streaming now on Apple TV.