‘Ambulance’ (2022) | Movie Review

Ambulance is the newest Michael Bay film based on the 2005 Danish version, two brothers have on big bank robbery to pull off to set them up for life. One brother, a marine is needing the money for his wife, while the other is following his fathers footsteps of being one of the most well-known robbers in the country. When the robbery goes south leading them to have to escape via an Ambulance, they quickly realize they have an officer and paramedic in the back who are now hostages. A new film filled with Bayhem, explosions, and weirdly timed jokes seems to work for the most part, but man is this a self-indulgent and bloated suspense thriller.

Michael Bay recently has been in the news specifically saying that he did not think the VFX were very good, and they didn’t have the time to correct it. Surprisingly there really isn’t any noticeable CGI errors aside from maybe a couple helicopter shots. The two brothers, Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II have good chemistry, and their history while rushed is still an emotional point to the story. Jake Gyllenhaal is having the time of his life in this playing the baddie, and I did enjoy seeing his neurotic yet determined character do everything to get free of the police. Eiza González is terrific in her role as a paramedic doing the best she can to save the life of the cop but also play hostage, and communicate with the police. A lot of the film rides on her to be the audience’s perspective and I really enjoyed her performance.

There is of course lots of Bayhem, lots of cars smashing into things, explosions, and done in a better way than in recent Michael Bay films. I found myself very uneasy in the suspenseful moments and the pacing never lets up. The runtime however I think could be significantly shorter than what we got and might be more potent if they were to cut out repeated moments. The camerawork and editing can feel a little too handheld, and the shots where I am assuming an action drone was used were abused like crazy. Some of the shots didn’t weren’t properly framed, aimless, but so fast that you barely realize what you just saw.

Overall, I think this will be a delightful treat for Michael Bay fans and for those who want a decent action thriller. There’s some things to be corrected and the tone of a Michael Bay film is unique unto itself, so go in knowing what to expect and have fun!