Ambulance (2022) Review: Bay is Getting Surprisingly Better

Michael Bay is a pretty polarizing director, while his Transformers were box office hits, they were hated by critics and fans alike but now he’s back with his latest film ‘Ambulance’. A film that while still having many of Bay’s Bayisms, is surprisingly good.

It’s a fast-paced action thriller that takes the best of Bay’s usual tropes and downplays his worst. It’s a legitimately fun ride that while not life-changing will leave viewers thoroughly entertained.

We Don’t Stop

War veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) meets with his adopted brother Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal) in hopes of getting some money for a surgery his wife needs. Danny however ropes him into taking part in a bank heist. After the heist goes horribly wrong, the two brothers find themselves driving a hijacked ambulance with EMT Cam Thompson (Eiza González), and Zach (Jackson White) a rookie police officer they accidentally shot. The brothers must escape from the police while also keeping their hostages alive.

What ensues from here is a fast-paced game of literal cops and robbers tearing through the streets of Los Angeles. And when I say fast, I do mean it. Despite being around two and half hours long, the movie does not feel like it, as much like the ambulance itself, the movie does not stop. The characters are always moving, planning, and fighting. Despite this, the movie is still able to introduce each character and their motivation so the plot never feels confusing.

Another nice thing about the movie is that it includes less of Bay’s usual trappings. The women aren’t just here to be oggled at, and the army/police while portrayed positively don’t feel glorified. That being said when action isn’t on screen, the movie’s dialogue can feel a little awkward. The comic relief jokes and pop culture references just don’t land quite well and make you just wish they’d get back to the main plot.

Two Brothers

The movie is also bolstered by pretty strong characters who while not deep, were fun to watch. Jake Gyllenhaal proves once again that he is perfect for playing a lovable psycho as Danny, a charming yet psychopathic career criminal, who can seamlessly switch between casual small talk and threatening to blow someone’s head off. His performance is by far the highlight of the film.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Will, the ‘good’ criminal who reluctantly went on the heist to pay off his wife’s surgery. He does a good job playing a man who is good at heart. He wants to keep the cop and EMT alive because he never meant to hurt anyone. I will say that quite a few scenes of Him and Gyllenhaal bonding do feel a little too melodramatic with the scenes developing into shouting overly long-winded rhetoric but the actors themselves did good a job.

The final of the three main characters is the EMT Cam Thompson played by Eiza González. She does a good job acting as a straight man to the disturbed crooks around her. One thing I thought was cool was that through her the movie shows the importance of EMTs (emergency medical technicians), the guys that drive the ambulances. Usually relegated to appearing after the action has happened, Ambulance shows the stress and intense situations EMTs have to be involved in to save people’s lives including expertise in driving, organizing hospital staff, and keeping the patient alive and calm as they get to the doctors. Granted, it’s all done under Bay’s action, explosion-filled lens but still, it’s some interesting insight.

The other characters, consisting of various police officers and other criminals do well in their roles, the standout being Garret Dillahunt as Captain Monroe, a laid back yet world-weary police captain that never goes anywhere without his good doggo.

The action

Ambulance wouldn’t be a Michael Bay movie without some beautifully choreographed action set pieces and they certainly pack a punch. The car chases are intense with well-done crashes and jumps.

The movie makes complete use of the premise to further enhance the adrenaline. The fact that there’s a critically injured but still living cop in the ambulance means that the police cannot simply shoot or ram the vehicle. Likewise, the criminals need to be careful and make sure the EMT keeps the cop alive, so they can continue to use him as a bargaining chip.

This means that interwoven with the action is a thrilling cat and mouse chase with both sides frequently coming up with new tactics and traps to undermine the other and do so quickly.

Two things to note about the movie is that it surprisingly pulls back on the explosions. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still there, including one blazing inferno in the climax, but they’re not quite as frequent as Bay’s previous blockbusters.

The other thing to note is that the director has learned how to use a drone and you can tell he’s loving it. There are a number of wide and dynamic shots taken from drones including a few literal midair twists for no other reason than to show it off. Some may say it’s a little excessive but for such an over-the-top movie, I thought they fit right in.

Ambulance

Ambulance is a refreshing action movie, that pulls on Bay’s strengths as a director. While chase flicks like this have been done before, and the wiring can be a bit clumsy, as an over-the-top action thriller, it knows what it wants to be.

The hijacking of an ambulance with a live patient is a mostly original idea with the potential for thrills that the movie executes to the fullest. The character, especially Jake Gyllenhaal, are fun to watch and the fast-paced plot and stunts keep the audience on their toes. This is a speeding, bombastic ride from start to finish and if you’ve got two and half hours, I’d say it’s worth watching the havoc.

A big thanks to United International Pictures for the early access screening. 

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