Ambulance
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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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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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."
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If you want to break it down, this movie can be easily analyzed regarding any logic it may have, and a Michael Bay movie is just that, a Michael Bay movie. As a complete no-brainer, it is very entertaining with impressive stunts. Unfortunately, his tokenistic camerawork and editing techniques are really freaking overused in this movie. He should at least cut back on the coke in the future.
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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.
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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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Photo © Universal Pictures
