Ambulance (2022)

Okay yes, Ambulance is a bit of a chaotic mess that wishes is was Michael Mann's Heat (which it is not) but despite all of that it was completely engaging and a lot of fun. Do you have to suspend some disbelief? Sure. But do you mind? Not so much. 

Let's get out of the way what's wrong with the film. Bay doesn't create any sense of place or space so you can never 100% tell what's going on. He prioritizes his stylish car chase mayhem over actually establishing where each car is or where the characters are. You often have to just assume stuff. His narrative kinda works the same way. He sometimes skips over moments which would help make his story make sense and you just have to go along for the ride (see what I did there?). 

As Bay wants to make a movie about police chasing an ambulance he stretches out the logic of this for as long as humanly possible, often without holding on to the logic part of that. There are many times when realistically the whole thing would have just come to an end but we just keep going. The wrap up is on the unbelievable side too but again telling a realistic story doesn't serve this film's purpose. 

So lets get on to what works. The film is a fun ride despite all of the above. It never drags. Bay skips over any downtime jumping right into his story. And he commits. Sure there is a lot excessive camera work (shooting up buildings and then down the other side for some reason...) but he brings it. This is a car chase movie and that's what we get. 

But in reality if that's all this was it could still feel a bit tepid. Ambulance succeeds in part because of the rich characters. Bay (or perhaps screenwriter Fenak) channels Tarantino here, building fascinating back stories enriching his characters, who speak rapid and often textually rich dialogue. You care about these characters, even if the script doesn't always have them behaving in completely believable ways, even the smaller characters. Ambulance doesn't create black and white good guys and bad guys. We are sympathetic to the players in all camps. The troupe is drawn richly enough that we can get a lot out of everyone. 

And this is amplified by the great cast. The actors here all deliver. Jake Gyllenhaal is wonderful, layered and complicated but also delightfully camp, while Yahya Abdul-Mateen II provides the grounded gravitas that gives the story more weight than it should. The entire cast is great and create a wonderful ensemble. 

So yeah you do have to give the film some leeway in how it plays fast and loose with reality but if you can watch it that way it's a light and fun film that is exciting on the big screen. I think I might like Michael Bay's late career work. I said "like" not "love."

Ambulance 

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O'Donnel, Jackson White, Olivia Stambouliah, Moses Ingram, Colin Woodell, Cendric Saunders, A Martinez

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Chris Fedak