74. Review: Mayday (2026 film)

On this episode of Sound Speed Action, we review Mayday, the new 80s style action comedy on Apple TV starring Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh, made in the vein of Midnight Run, 48 Hrs, and Red Heat. It's a lot of fun, it knows exactly what it is, and Branagh's Nikolai, a former KGB hermit who worships one bootleg VHS of Top Gun, turns out to be a genuine badass. I am not kidding. I did not see that coming. But I keep telling myself the two guys who made it are cursed. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley made Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which everybody who saw it loved and Hollywood still called a disappointment. Then they made Mayday, finished it in the spring of 2024, and it sat on a shelf for two years before going straight to your phone. Cursed is not the right word, though. I found a better one, and I'll give it to you at the end of the episode, right after I tell you what they're making next. What We Cover: Nikolai Owns One Movie: A character set in 1987 who worships a film from 1986. Why the 80s homage in Mayday lives inside the character instead of being painted on top. Thin Is The Point: Red Heat did not have a serious position on the Cold War. Neither does this. Why the reviews knocking the politics are grading the wrong thing. The Villain Problem: One honest gripe about a good actor in a part nobody built. Two Years On A Shelf: Apple's habit of holding content that gets close to live geopolitics, and why a comedy stops being the same movie once the room around it changes. Same Week, Different Screens: A movie a studio decided was worthless opened in theaters. A movie built for theaters opened on your TV. Neither decision had anything to do with whether the movie was good. Not Cursed: Goldstein and Daley keep making movies that Hollywood keeps burying. I owe them a better word than cursed, and I found one. Stay to the end. Connect & Support: Show Website: https://www.ssapod.com Follow & Review: If you enjoyed this breakdown, please leave a review on your podcast app and follow the show for more cinema breakdowns.