‘Mayday’ film review: Kenneth Branagh plays ‘a good Russian’ for a change as a former KGB officer who loves Top Gun and fights like Liam Neeson

A film about a downed U.S. Navy pilot and a former KGB officer who become friends while trying to escape the Soviet Union in 1987 is now streaming on Apple TV. Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh once again plays a Soviet citizen — hardly new territory in his career — while Ryan Reynolds sticks to his familiar persona. The film was commissioned by Skydance Media, a studio that reportedly has close ties to the Trump administration. Critic Eduard Zhuravlev examines what a campy, cliché-ridden Holl...