Assessment: Michael Bay’s ‘Ambulance’ is Excessive Motion Extravagance
by Alex Billington
April 7, 2022
Everybody is aware of Michael Bay, and everybody is aware of what to anticipate from any Michael Bay film. That is a given these days. Ambulance is Bay’s fifteenth film up to now, and someway even in any case this time, he nonetheless hasn’t developed as a filmmaker. All the pieces he does is nonetheless about huge explosions, huge weapons, huge stakes, huge automotive chases, huge actors, huge cameras. The one factor not huge on this film is the drones they use to fly round random locations in Los Angeles. All the pieces else about Ambulance is as extreme and excessive as something can get; in fact there’s explosions & gunfights galore. It is billed as Bay’s “love letter” to Los Angeles, with the letters “L” and “A” turning completely different colours within the title sequence, for no different explainable cause than to boldly say “this film is ready in Los Angeles and Los Angeles gave us each useful resource to make it!!” Extra precisely, it is a love letter to the LAPD (ugh) as they create the whole lot to the desk to try to cease these criminals on the run.
Bay’s Ambulance includes a screenplay written by Chris Fedak, his very first writing gig for a characteristic movie (he has principally labored in TV earlier than this). Although it actually looks like Bay wrote the script himself. A lot of it’s confounding nonsense very like most of Bay’s motion scenes, particularly the scenes early on the place Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Will reveals up at some fancy warehouse in Santa Monica to fulfill his brother (uh certain, why not?) Danny, as performed by Jake Gyllenhaal. They argue about random issues earlier than Will explains he wants a ship load of cash to assist his spouse’s medical issues, so, effectively, Danny convinces him to assist him rob a financial institution. A significant, downtown Los Angeles financial institution the place they’re going to stroll away with tens of millions. Apparently that is regular for Danny, and for each of them, as their father was a well-known financial institution robber, too (who was good at “getting away”). Off they go, weapons blazing, with a plan that form of works till it would not (does it ever…?). Then they steal an ambulance and off they go once more, weapons blazing once more, now with the LAPD in scorching pursuit.
There may be completely nothing plausible or believable about this film, however that is the purpose, not essentially a nasty factor. It is the final word escapism in that the whole lot taking place is absurd and introduced in a method the place we’re imagined to be entertained and nothing extra. Do not even dare to make use of your mind in the course of the 2 hours, 16 minutes run time as a result of your thoughts will instantly conflict with what’s taking place on display. Bay’s decadence is so overwhelming in Ambulance that it turns into distracting, with the swooping drones and vomit-inducing cinematography in the end turning into extra distracting than the plot of the film. There is a second the place the film begins to swerve in direction of Inside Man (which guidelines), with a plot twist that makes you surprise “oh okay, possibly they’re going to pull off this theft and get away with it utilizing some trickery?” Then veers once more, down varied aspect streets, even into the Los Angeles River for a number of extra confounding motion scenes, and loses its deal with the one-and-only attention-grabbing twist in all the script. You possibly can most likely guess what occurs subsequent.
Regardless of all this absurdity, I can not assist however admit I did take pleasure in watching Ambulance. For probably the most half. Perhaps it is as a result of a heaping dose of Michael Bay escapism for 2 hours is definitely a wholesome break from all of the heavy feelings and depth of the whole lot else happening in the true world. And since, sure it is true, after 15 films Bay does know find out how to make an entertaining motion film. Even whether it is particularly dumb. Even unhealthy films will be entertaining. Nothing will ever high his early work: Dangerous Boys 1 & 2, The Rock, Armageddon – these are his greatest films and it is time to cease hoping he’ll possibly make one thing as nice as these ever once more (although Transformers and Ache & Acquire are fairly good, too). That stated, Ambulance is Bay at his most excessive – the whole lot he lives for as a filmmaker is on show on this (he even name-drops his personal films). Fortunately it is vastly higher than 6 Underground, which was a stinking pile of jumbled-up motion nonsense.
On one hand, Bay’s Ambulance is the worst type of motion film bonanza, crammed with pointless drone photographs, digicam sweeps that may make everybody sick, based mostly round a plot that does not make a lot sense apart from questioning if the LAPD can catch them. Then again, Bay’s Ambulance is an ideal instance of all-out, huge finances motion film madness in a method that satisfies that gnawing need for “I can not consider they did that” filmmaking. A lot of the motion nonetheless makes me surprise “how a lot did they pay to tug this off?” as a result of DAMN that’s nuts. Essentially the most disappointing and off-putting factor about this film is how a lot it glorifies violence, with extreme gunfights and infinite wanton destruction portrayed as happy-go-lucky huge display leisure. Together with what appears to be a “look how cool the LAPD are” subplot with each final division of the military-esque police concerned not directly – from snipers to helicopters to SWAT to beat cops. And so they’re not even good at stopping these guys for a lot of the film. Bay will probably be Bay, nothing can cease him.
Alex’s Score: 5 out of 10
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