by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer
Taking a break from making films about giant robots, Director Michael Bay went for a lower-budget approach with Ambulance. In spite of his many duds, Bay is still one of the most talented directors of modern Hollywood. And this is the movie that proves it. Ambulance is a full-throttle adventure that’s half movie and half theme park ride, but that’s what makes it so fun.
In Ambulance, two brothers, Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal), work with a crew to rob a bank, but when the plan goes awry, the brothers end up using a stolen ambulance as an escape vehicle with an EMT and a dying police officer still inside. The premise is simple, but Bay turns it into a symphony of mayhem. Throughout the film, we follow an ever-expanding cast of characters involved in either catching the runaway ambulance or helping it escape, including the LAPD, a Mexican gang, a duo of golfing surgeons, and an FBI negotiator with connections to Danny’s past. What, on its face, is a straightforward story, turns into a grand epic of chaos, death, betrayal, and family. And all of this takes place during an insanely long pursuit through Los Angeles that mixes Mad Max: Fury Road with a five-star Grand Theft Auto chase.
Another director could take this same script with the same budget and turn in a mediocre action movie. But Bay’s signature loud and aggressive style of filmmaking allows this movie to reach its full off-the-wall potential. The kinetic handheld camera work, gratuitous slow motion, and insane set pieces he’s known for all here. And of course, there are explosions, though there are far less in this movie than usual. Bay seems to have replaced his love of pyrotechnics with a newfound affinity for absolutely insane drone shots. There’s a laughably excessive amount of them in this film, but they’re all impressive from a technical sense.
I was surprised to find myself deeply invested in all the characters in this film, not just the main crew in the ambulance, but all the auxiliary characters too. The car chase becomes surprisingly strategic as both sides try everything to outmaneuver, outwit, and outlast each other. The fact that the script was still able to include compelling character moments within all the insanity is a testament to the talent of the writers and the actors. The performances are all perfect, from the main cast down to the actors who only appear in two scenes. Eliza Gonzales, who plays the EMT trapped in the vehicle, is especially great in the many nail-biting medical emergency scenes. Abdul-Mateen gives a very sympathetic portrayal of his character, as he struggles to balance his need to escape and bring the money home to his family with his moral obligation to save the dying cop. But Gyllenhaal turns in the most enticing performance as the erratic Danny, who serves as the wild card of the story. The audience never knows what he’s going to do or say next, and Gyllenhaal’s unhinged performance was the perfect energy to add to the film’s chaotic mix.
This movie’s utter “Bayhem” is both its greatest strength and greatest weakness. It could be fun for some and headache-inducing for others, and it never gives you any time to catch your breath. It’s like being on a rollercoaster for 2 hours straight. There’s also no lack of cheesy, cliché dialogue and jokes that earn groans instead of laughs, but the actors are more than capable enough to overcome the weaker parts of the script. Another issue is the bloated runtime. Two hours and 15 minutes isn’t as long as some of Bay’s other films, but you can definitely feel its length, even if the movie is paced like the editor drank three cans of Red Bull. I was immersed enough to bear through it, but some will find the neverending chaos maddening.
With Ambulance, what you see is what you get. If you think a Michael Bay movie about a Fury Road-esque chase throughout the streets of L.A. is your thing, then this is the movie for you. If that sounds like torture, it’s not going to change your mind. But for any fans of high-octane action films, this is worth seeing on the big screen.
Score: 7/10
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