Ambulance (2022)

So here's the gist. "Will" (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) needs $231,000 urgently, so he taps up his brother "Danny" (Jake Gyllenhaal) who, as luck would have it, is on that very day about to hit a bank for $32m. All he has to do is drive and his worries are a thing of the past. They manage to relieve the bank of the cash ok, but horny young police officer "Zach" (Jackson White) becomes a fly in their ointment when he decides to ask one of the cashiers out on a date, and gets caught up in the now much more precarious raid. He gets shot, and as the ambulance is leaving to take him to hospital the two robbers jump on board as their ticket out of the now police-strewn crime scene. Luckily, onboard the ambulance, is feisty no-nonsense paramedic "Cam" (Eiza González) who now has to keep the critically ill officer alive whilst her two passengers try to evade the might of the LAPD with their loot. What now ensues is just ridiculous. This sixteen tonne truck manages to evade snipers, souped-up police cars, helicopters all whilst having a critically injured man in the back. It seems to have no issues running out of gas; and must have an axle and suspension system that wouldn't be out of place on a Boeing 747. Gung-go police captain "Monroe" (Garret Dillahunt) demonstrates adequately that the more resources you have, the cockier you become - and the less successful; and the introduction of FBI man "Anson" (Keir O'Donnell) a college pal of "Danny" who has to rush from a marriage guidance session with his husband to try and apprehend the fugitives just tops off this rather preposterous narrative. The production is very good; the use of drones and high speed photography does create an effective image as the ambulance continues to evade pursuit, but the dialogue is dreadful. Lots of repetitive expressions with hardly a smile to be had as the plot descends willingly into the absurd. Luckily, we get to come up for air for a moment or so thanks to Christoper Cross' "Sailing" but otherwise this is a relentless chase movie with it's root firmly placed in fantasy. The ending takes 2¼ to come, and when it does it is as inevitable as it is poor. I'm sorry, but this is nobody's finest work and being the only person at the screening I couldn't help but wonder if others knew better than me - and stayed at home!

Buried deep within _Ambulance_’s loud, flashy action, sickening editing, overstimulated filming techniques, and a screenplay that seems like it was fished out of a port-a-potty is a somewhat thrilling film. Jake Gyllenhaal is a cashmere obsessed lunatic that you can’t help but love, but _Ambulance_ is a gaudy and sloppy excuse of an action film otherwise.

**Full review:** boundingintocomics.com/2022/04/11/ambulance-review-action-at-its-dumbest-and-gaudiest/

6 out of 10 for this waste of good actors. Garbage camera work, loud score, and anticlimactic ending that leaves the viewer just disappointed. Car chases and gun fights must have been directed by an action flick newbie, never even once is the cause and effect in the same frame. Looking at people shooting something off-screen and in the next scene seeing bullets hit another thing does nothing for me. Might as well read a book if I'm supposed to connect the dots myself. Similarly watching cars drive fast in close-ups or over hidden ramps is just boring. Dialogue wants to be clever so much and characters are overly colorful, not very believable on the whole. The movie is suspenseful though if nothing else and that is why my rating is relatively high.

I generally like Michael Bay movies, even when they go into stupid, inane territory. However, his latest, Ambulance is a 90-100 minute movie that is stretched to over two hours and got tedious pretty quickly, most notably the aerial/drone shots that did make me a tad nauseous. The writing also was pretty poor including the cringe "comedic" lines that didn't work, not to mention a few unnecessary scenes for the supporting characters. I guess on the plus side Jake Gyllenhaal can play psychotic pretty well and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has his moments. I also liked how Bay/composer Lorne Balfe recycled one of the themes from 13 Hours at the end.

As a whole, this is not one I'll revisit. **1.75/5**

**If you want escapism action, you have come to the right place.**

Ambulance is as Michael Bay as a movie could possibly be. There’s a total of maybe 10 minutes of story and plot development before jumping fully into all-out action. Who needs character development when you have a 2-hour car chase and shootout? Not me! It is a non-stop action romp with next-level camera work and stunt work. You should know what you’re getting if you watch a Michael Bay film, and this is everything you would expect at its very best. Peak Michael Bay action.