This movie was not what I expected.. I saw Ryan Reynolds, I saw Kenneth Branagh, I saw fighter jets, Russia, the Cold War and a secret military mission.. I thought I was about to watch some serious spy thriller... Nope...
These two men basically spent the movie running around Russia, arguing, fighting, escaping people and somehow becoming friends along the way and honestly?.. I had fun...
The story takes place in 1987, during the Cold War. Ryan Reynolds plays Troy “Assassin” Kelly, a hotshot U.S. Navy pilot sent on a secret mission over Soviet territory...
Obviously, things go wrong because if everything went according to plan, we wouldn't have a movie..
Troy ends up stranded behind enemy lines after his aircraft goes down.. He is injured, alone and basically surrounded by people who would love to capture him... Then he meets Nikolai Ustinov, played by Kenneth Branagh and this is where the movie becomes interesting...
Nikolai is a former KGB officer, but he's not exactly the terrifying Russian spy you might expect....
This man LOVES America, loves American movies and even loves American culture
So you have an American pilot who thinks Russia is the enemy... And a Russian ex-spy who is obsessed with America..
The relationship between Reynolds and Branagh is easily the best thing about this movie..
Ryan Reynolds is basically doing what he does best...
He's sarcastic, cocky, constantly making jokes and even when his life is in danger, he still finds a way to say something stupid..
Normally, this can become annoying because we've seen this version of Ryan Reynolds many times.
But here?.. It actually fits..
Troy is supposed to be this confident, slightly arrogant American pilot, so Reynolds' personality works surprisingly well but Kenneth Branagh?
This man stole the movie for me...
I wasn't expecting him to be this funny.. Nikolai is weird, charming, slightly crazy and somehow very likeable...
Branagh brings a lot of personality to the character, and there were several moments when I was more interested in what Nikolai was doing than what Troy was doing....
The two characters are completely different, but that's exactly why their friendship works... At first, they don't trust each other.. they obviously had no reason to...One is an American soldier, The other used to work for the Soviet intelligence service but as they spend more time together, they begin to understand each other and underneath all the jokes and action, that's actually what I liked about the movie... It's about two people from opposite sides of a political conflict realizing that maybe they aren't that different after all...
The Cold War is basically the background..
The friendship is the real story and thankfully, the movie gives room for a lot of jokes...
There are plenty of action scenes, Gunfights, Car chase, Fights, Escapes, Aircraft, People getting chased through the wilderness and somehow these two keep surviving things that would probably kill normal human beings five times over...
The action is fun rather than realistic and I liked..
The 1980s setting also works really well..
The clothes, music, cars, technology and general atmosphere give the movie that nostalgic feeling and the constant Top Gun references are hilarious considering that Troy is basically the kind of pilot Nikolai has watched in his favourite American movie...
I also liked that the movie doesn't make every Russian character a cartoon villain..
There are still villains, obviously, but the story makes room for ordinary people and gives the two main characters opportunities to see each other's side.
That makes the friendship feel more meaningful....
Some of the emotional moments also feel a little forced...
The movie occasionally tries to remind you.. “Hey, this is actually a serious story about family and loneliness."... And I'm like... “Bro, I know. We were just laughing five minutes ago.” .
The tone can jump around quite a bit...
One moment you're watching a serious Cold War situation, The next moment Ryan Reynolds is making a ridiculous joke and Then suddenly we're having an emotional conversation... It doesn't always flow perfectly but strangely enough, I didn't hate it because the chemistry between the leads carries the movie..
Ryan Reynolds brings the comedy..
Kenneth Branagh brings the heart..
The action keeps things moving and the 1980s setting gives everything a nice nostalgic flavour..
Rating: 80/100
