Ambulance

A hard and fast guided tour of Los Angeles and a movie record of exactly the same bank robbery as we see in "Grand Theft Auto V"... the one the ambulance... enriched by the recycled screenplay of the Danish original (thank god for the Scandinavians) about two brothers who need some money. In addition to the very effective camera flybys (guaranteed to make you barf if you watch this at the IMAX), Bay unexpectedly looks into the motivations and the character traits of all the main protagonists. It wrings out all it can from the emotions. Everyone has his place and is important in some way. But character development takes nothing away from this being a heavy-caliber Bay movie with cars crashing into obstacles and automatic weapons firing in the background: artists on the wrong side of the law playing a concert. Gyllenhaal savors playing the looney Danny to the very last drop, whether he is ordering flamingos for a birthday party or persuading his brother to help him rob a bank which this very day happens to have millions of dollars lying in the safe. And you must admit, the rest do a very good job of being extras. Balfe’s frenetic music is full on. Is this movie dumb? Yes. And is it fun? Yes. "You shouldn't have worn fucking sandals, dude." (03/20/2022)

All you have is a skeleton crew and a script pulled out of your ass. Who you gonna call? Michael Bay! Ambulance is a film that was made out of Bay's simple need above all to do something at a time when there was nothing to do, and the way the film was made in spite of that can often be so painfully seen that it comes across as a bit guerrilla. Especially during the shootout at the bank, you see crew members or security guards guarding the set in almost every other shot. At the same time, the script gives the impression that it was written on the spot, and anyone who has seen a single movie about paramedics and cops and robbers and is also fixated on realism and logic will die inside a bit here, because everything here sort of lands well on the first try and moves on without a second thought. Combined with the pacing of the film, it all feels spontaneous, like little boys playing cops and robbers in the backyard, creating subplots on the fly without thinking about their purpose to the story thus far, just so they can get back to riding and shooting. For me that's a perfectly fine way to make an action movie, and when the only director on the set who's been yelling into a megaphone enters the picture, we're in for a boogaloo, with drones and cars racing each other and all the sparkling, banging, dusting, blurring, and backlighting, where the important thing is not what exploded, but that it exploded. No one puts the camera down as much as Bay, few people today understand how much an action movie relates to the environment in which it takes place. And you all surely must be looking at it wrong, so pop open a beer, stick a smoke in the corner of your mouth, feet (in shoes) on the table, and give it another go! I want this place red by the end of the week, you hayseeds. (06/14/2022)

An amazing Bayhem, for me the film of the year so far and one of Michael Bay's best films! Ambulance is a combination of Den of Thieves and Wrath of Man, and if you like purely male movies full of adrenaline and testosterone you won't go wrong with this one – I died and came back to life in the cinema, metaphorically speaking fell and rose from the ashes like phoenix! Bay sets a very fast pace from the opening and thrusts us into a heist where absolutely everything gets fucked up, and the action then shifts to the ambulance, which is where the whole film takes place, and although it sounds uninteresting, you better believe you'll be wiping your brow with adrenaline. Jake Gyllenhaal is excellent, a chameleon of an actor (he overacts at times, but why not), and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is terrific as well as a former marine playing a very charismatic hero. Eiza Gonzalez, nothing to worry about here, great acting, great looks, Bay couldn't have picked a better trio of actors for this project. The action is uncompromising, the gunfights (no one has better sound design for guns than Bay!), the car chases, the helicopters, it's all there and I didn't feel like I was watching a movie at all, I felt I was watching a live broadcast of a crime in progress in LA, so the authenticity and realism gives it a high dimension. In other words, Bay has made his own movie version of GTA and for me it was a dream come true. I must also single out the great soundtrack (the music was ear-splitting and added to the tension and adrenaline). Bay's drone-camera was downright revolutionary, the aerial shots were so riveting that Deakins and Hoyt are quietly envious. The operation on the fly – the best shot operation in a movie since Saw, even a gore lover gets their serving, so pure euphoria and bliss. On top of all that, the dramatic and emotional moments work (Bay can bring tears in the opening 5 minutes, not to mention the ending!), and praise must be given to the FBI who finally showcase a very good antagonist, two intelligent fighters on opposite sides of the barricade, awesome and add to that the military tricks and a cartel and there is really little left missing for the audience to have a stroke. Flawless for me, I'm going again next week and then again. I liked how Bay references his own films. Story 3/5, Action 5/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 5/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 5/5, Emotion 5/5, Actors 5/5. 10/10. (03/21/2022)

In Ambulance, Michael Bay may have toned down the explosions, but this is still an action-packed caper, where logic sometimes takes a back seat to an impressive atmosphere. I thought I'd seen this story somewhere before, and it was only in the database that I realised I'd once seen the Danish version. From a technical point of view, I would criticise the film for the camera shots that are sometimes too cluttered – at times it almost looked like the cameraman was high on something. Story-wise, as I mentioned, there is more than one over-the-top moment (especially during the operation of the policeman, who is almost forgotten in the last act), but that's kind of Bay's thing. In the end, the film tries to play on emotions quite blatantly, pushing the envelope disproportionately hard compared to the rest. The cast was overall fine – perhaps only the pompous Captain Monroe was annoying. All in all, it was a slightly overlong but entertaining one-off, with a decent soundtrack (at times some of the tones evoked Interstellar). (03/19/2022)

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. (03/25/2022)