There are few film genres with a lower hit rate when it comes to quality than the starry made-for-streaming action comedy. Examples of this type of movie in recent years have been increasingly plentiful – and they tend to perform admirably for the various platforms in terms of viewing figures – but the selection doesn't exactly offer what you would call an embarrassment of riches.
It's perhaps not the highest form of praise, then, to proclaim that Mayday – the new Apple TV original starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh – is comfortably among the upper tier of this particular canon.
But this '80s-set Cold War adventure from Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves directing duo Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley is a breezy and amiable film that has more than enough personality and heart to stand out from the painfully generic crowd.
Reynolds stars as US Air Force Pilot Troy "Assassin" Kelly, who we are introduced to via a Top Gun-esque training exercise sequence that establishes both his impressive flying credentials and a bravado that borders on cockiness. It's those qualities that make him the perfect pick to be enlisted by his superior for a dangerous, top secret mission, but when his plane is shot down over Soviet Russia he finds himself stranded behind enemy lines.
Enter Nikolai Ustinov (a Russian-accented Branagh), who is first on the scene at the crash sight and takes an unconscious Troy into his remote cottage. When Troy reawakens, the very first thing he sees is Tom Cruise – a poster of the aforementioned Top Gun giving us an early clue that his saviour might be more open to American culture than the typical Russian.
And so it proves. It turns out that Nikolai – or Nik as he insists on being called – is a former KGB operative who has reversed course and developed an obsession with all things USA, even hoping to eventually live in the nation he previously believed was the enemy.
It's the odd couple, somewhat unsure dynamic between this central pair that informs the tone for the rest of the runtime, as Nik swears to help Troy reach safety and the latter learns that the more extreme negatives he's heard about Russian people might not be entirely accurate.
View Green Video on the source websiteReynolds doesn’t veer far from his trademark comic schtick, and his quippy line deliveries can occasionally be irksome, but for the most part the Deadpool star forms an entertaining and well-matched double act with Branagh, who turns in a charming performance even if the eccentric Nik's characterisation isn't always entirely consistent.
Throughout, Goldstein and Daley keep the set pieces coming at a welcome pace, from a finely shot, expertly choreographed bar brawl (with the leads carrying out their own stunts) to an amusing sequence that finds the pair seeking refuge in the cupboard of a high-ranking KGB officer.
While not every joke works – for example, the pay-off to a long-building gag about the origin's of Troy's call sign is underwhelming – the success rate is more than decent overall, while the directors get good mileage out of the many Top Gun references and a number of Bruce Springsteen needle drops.
The film's emotional core is also given a lift by the late introduction of Nik's daughter Anna (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova), a dissident with whom he had previously been at odds, and while a background storyline surrounding the health of Troy's father is slightly undercooked, this also ends up playing a key role in the climactic events.
Nothing about Mayday seeks to reinvent the wheel, but the sense that some thought and invention has gone into both the characters and the set pieces means it soars above most entries in a streaming climate that can often feel soulless. This is an eminently watchable diversion.
Mayday is released on Apple TV on Friday 4 September.
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