Say what you will about Michael Bay, but he sure knows how to make an action film. The man has been doing it since 1995 and ever since has delivered some crazy, memorable, and gorgeously shot spectacles. With his latest film, Ambulance, filmed during COVID and reimagining a Danish film from 2005, Bay gives us more of his old tricks, with a few new ones added in, only this time, he has one of the stronger scripts and casts he’s worked with in a long while.
In need of money for his wife’s surgery, former Marine Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, “The Matrix Resurrections”) turns to his adopted brother and career bank robber, Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”), who takes him along to steal $30 million from a Los Angeles bank. When the heist very quickly goes awry, Danny and Will commandeer an ambulance and its’ EMT, Cam (Eiza Gonzalez, “Godzilla vs Kong”), who is trying to save the life of a cop (Jackson White, “SEAL Team”) who was shot during the heist.
Despite a relatively tame opening act, Ambulance is essentially a two-hour and change car chase through downtown LA with about 30 cars pulverized in the process and drone shots galore. Yes, Bayhem is back in full force, with the seasoned action director clearly happy to be filming what it feels like he’s been dying to make since COVID hit- BTW, props to the film for pulling off such a close-quarters heist film during the pandemic.
Of course, the editing style, credited to three people, which is still a far cry from “Transformers: The Last Knight’s” six editors, is all over the map, ranging from breathless and exhilarating at best to tight and choppy at worst. The scenes in the titular ambulance are intentionally claustrophobic, but Bay keeps it focused on the people inside, occasionally even forgoing the carnage outside to showcase the reactions of our leads.
Speaking of which, it’s in its three main characters where Ambulance really shines. Gyllenhaal is clearly having a blast playing the increasingly unhinged Danny and much like Ryan Reynolds in “6 Underground,” takes advantage of the fact that he’s in a Michael Bay film. Mateen pulls off a character that could’ve very easily been stereotypical, but it’s Gonzalez who steals the show. Cam is by no means the damsel in distress that the marketing makes her appear to be; she’s a fully realized character with one of the best introductions and ultimate character payoffs I’ve seen in a film in a long time. Bay’s been getting flack for how he’s treated female stars in his past films, but this seems to be his answer to that.
The downside is that Bay doesn’t keep things simple. Around the halfway mark, he introduces several new characters and while one of them gets a memorably off-kilter intro, most of them don’t pay off. There’s a subplot involving a gangster with ties to Danny that seems to serve the purpose of making a tense climax and not much else. We, the audience, should care if Danny and Will make it out alive, and for the most part, we do, but on occasion, Bay lets that fall by the wayside.
Ambulance is a thrill ride, but one that has people in the middle first and foremost. Those looking for a brainless action film may find more beneath the surface here and although it has a few shortcomings, it still ends up as one of Bay’s strongest films.
Ambulance is now playing in theaters.