Directed by:
Michael BayCinematography:
Roberto De AngelisComposer:
Lorne BalfeCast:
Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Moses Ingram, Garret Dillahunt, Colin Woodell, Keir O'Donnell, A Martinez, Devan Chandler Long (more)VOD (4)
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In this action thriller directed by Michael Bay, veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), desperate for money, turns to his adoptive brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) for help. A career criminal, Danny instead offers him a huge score. But when their heist goes awry, the desperate brothers hijack an ambulance with a wounded cop and EMT (Eiza González) onboard. Will and Danny must evade a city-wide law enforcement response, keep their hostages alive, and somehow try not to kill each other, all while executing the most insane escape LA has ever seen. (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
On the one hand, it’s regrettable that Bay lost his perversely inflated budgets by liberating himself from the Transformers cash cow and thus has to make formalistic compromises after years of unbridled lavish spending. Bay himself bitterly admits this when he says that some of the CGI shots in Ambulance are “shit”. Still, it’s great to again see this John Waters of the mainstream and Dario Argento of action movies run riot. No one else has the formalistic skills of the master of superficiality. I don’t understand the criticisms that you have to shut down your brain to watch Bay’s films. On the contrary, you can fully enjoy Bayhem only when you switch your brain on and set it to camp mode. Bay doesn't make realistic films and he has no interest in classic narratives. At their core, his films cannot be enjoyed passively, so that viewers are “only” entertained or moved by them. This is beautifully illustrated by a comparison between the original Nordic dramedy Ambulance and Bay’s variation on it. The Danes took the genre elements and strained them through a filter of empathy and levity, thus creating a perfect film for viewers. Conversely, Bay took only the basic premise from the original narrative. He threw out everything civil or (cinematically) realistic and spread out before the audience his world of advertising über-reality and soap-operatic emotions, where everything is turned up not just to eleven, but rather to twenty. As in Zdeněk Troška’s works, in the Bayverse all of the characters express themselves mainly by screaming or barking out simple sentences with the nature of slogans. The less space characters have in the film, the more they are exaggerated caricatures modelled not on everyday reality, but on the manmade illusion of PR and music videos. All of the cars appear to be new and polished, the female protagonist has perfect make-up even in the tensest moments of a field operation and the police are recruited exclusively from the ranks of juiced bodybuilders. Like the aforementioned Argento, Bay doesn’t bother with bullshit like believability and logic, but is only and primarily concerned with making every single shot as stylish and spectacular as possible. And in that respect, Ambulance is an absolute feast. Bay has reached the (for now) peak of his ADHD filmmaking, wagering on one goofily contrived and spectacularly self-indulgent shot after another. In addition to that, he got drones to play with, or rather he got some skilful drone operators, whom he let completely off the leash. Besides the phantasmagorical drone shots and real action with a minimum of digital effects, what’s most amusing about Ambulance is Bay’s attempt to ride the wave of current progressive trends in Hollywood cinema. But because Bay himself is the essence of the term “douchebag”, his version of diversity and representation inevitably takes the form of an absurdly boorish caricature. Bay has simply proven again that his films primarily induce viewers to shake their heads in disbelief. And when properly tuned in, there is wonderful pleasure in that.
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There was a time when I eagerly anticipated every new Michael Bay film. But ever since Transformers, he's turned into a total hack. This might just be his worst film yet. It's dreadful, with a lackluster cast that shows zero emotion — something I never expected from Jake Gyllenhaal.
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I didn't expect that three quarters of the film would be a car chase, one eighth a gunfight and the rest the necessary introduction to the plot and the final breath. Most importantly, I didn't expect it to be so great, and I don't think a better director than Michael Bay could have taken this script. The incessant action is extremely colourful and the playful music video look suits it well, it's clear that a lot of what happens on the screen happened on the set and that the stuntmen and pyrotechnicians got a good payday. Sure, at times it's really, really, really stupid, but in those moments the film either readily admits it with a wink or solidly disguises it. I could have done without Papi's car ambush, which didn't really belong here, otherwise I can't complain. I wouldn’t mind watching it again.
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The characters get into a situation that started to really entertain me only in the last quarter of the film. Everything before that is trite routine, wrapped up in an attractive Bayhem form. And that’s not for everyone. Epileptics can’t help themselves. What I found most lacking in Ambulance is a more imaginative screenplay. The only way the film attempts to move the action-packed ambulance ride along in terms of plot is by gradually revealing the relationships between the characters (who knows whom from where and why). And these are in no way interesting and don’t bring anything important to the emotional drive of the film. Some emotion comes only in the final minutes, but it’s nothing more than traditional, slightly embarrassing Bay-esque sentiment.
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After a botched robbery, Michael Bay has the two protagonists steal an ambulance and take a hostage, and a chase across L.A. begins. And it's Bay, full of slow motion, crazy explosions and stylish camera work. Only this time, the director tries to be unexpectedly serious at times and doesn't completely underestimate the character work. Unfortunately, what looks for a while like a serious action drama that might even work, ends up getting beaten to death by childish humour, overwrought action and the fact that he's just making what he's always made. So in the end, it's more or less exactly the kind of wildness one expects from Michael Bay. Whether that's a good or bad is for each to decide.
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Gallery (35)
Photo © Universal Pictures
![Ambulance - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/166/229/166229894_027b3d.jpg)