Time: 111 Minutes
Cast:
Ryan Reynolds as Troy “Assassin” Kelly
Kenneth Branagh as Nikolai Ustinov
Marcin Dorociński as Alexander Volkov
Maria Bakalova as Anna Ustinov
David Morse as Harold Kelly
Director: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

I heard of Mayday, an upcoming action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenenth Branagh. The main thing that interested me is that it is from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who made Game Night and Dungeons & Dragon: Honor Among Thieves. Mayday may be worse from their past two movies, but it’s still pretty enjoyable.

This story is basic and predictable and you’ve seen it many times before. However, it is light and simple enough that it works to the movie’s strengths, while having enough of an emotional grounding. The jokes mostly work and don’t go over the top, and there are even a few actually hilarious moments.

Unsurprisingly, Ryan Reynolds plays Ryan Reynolds again. For what it’s worth, it does play to his familiar stuff, but feels restrained compared to his previous work. That said, I think that someone else might’ve worked better in this role. I think his performance benefitted from who he was bouncing off here, that being Kenneth Branagh as the highlight of the film. He is charming and funny, and is just entertaining to watch. The dynamic between Reynolds and Branagh are the driving force of the movie and that succeeds at the very least.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley’s stylish direction isn’t quite at the level of their past couple of movies, but it does just enough to elevate it above the average straight to streaming action comedy. The action is pretty entertaining with dynamic camerawork, good choreography and solid fight scenes.

Mayday is an enjoyable and funny buddy action comedy, elevated by the stylish direction and a scene stealing Kenneth Branagh.