Rating: 8.0
Is it just me or is this movie actually not that bad? Like it’s not a “good movie”, but I had tons of fun with it, its a thrill ride full of Bayhem! To me, it felt like what a GTA movie could be, or what “Fast and Furious” should aspire to be, and I genuinely liked it for that. I’m also a sucker for these kinds of movies, and the fact that this was essentially a Michael Bay version of “Speed” really appealed to me. The film is Michael Bay at his best and his worst, but overall I’d say it’s still one of his best in a long time. It’s stupid fun, a 2 hour adrenaline rush that never lets up!
To start with the negatives, it's absolutely ridiculous (although more realistic than many films in that genre these days) and the script is just terrible. Every time I thought the movie was getting really good, they’d stop for a dialogue scene and it would just ruin it, because the dialogue is unbearable. You could tell the actors were trying their best to really sell it, and they actually managed to pull it off! The acting is excellent, and really rises above the material given! Gyllenhaal was unhinged, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza Gonzalez served as the emotional core for the film. They all were just so good in this! Many situations are so ridiculous it's laughable, the audience I saw it with laughed multiple times AT the movie, and weren’t fully taking it seriously, but everyone seemed to be having a good time with it! There were indeed multiple times I was slapping my face thinking how stupid this was, there are so many holes and dumb moments, but the film would always pull me back in with something exciting! Another slight issue I had was the editing, there were so many awkward edits that hurt my head and sequences that cut way too fast, I wish they just let the shots go on longer.
As I mentioned, the movie is ridiculous, but so much fun. It’s extremely intense; I was on edge the whole time and loved the ride it took me on. The runtime flew by, it moved so fast and was constantly entertaining! And while the script and especially dialogue scenes aren’t great, the action more than makes up for it. It is basically one long car chase, and allows Michael Bay to really do his thing! The action is visceral and thrilling, intense and giant in scale! Some of the sequences were just unbelievably awesome, especially the two helicopters flying low right beside the ambulance. Its truly some excellent “Bayhem”, with lots of explosions and cool shots. And oh my god… the amount of drone shots were insane in this movie. As John Campea calls it, this film should be called: “Michael Bay presents: Look Everybody I Bought My First Drone!”, because he used a drone to shoot almost everything. It definitely looked cool, and there were some shots I’ve never seen done before, but by the end it just seemed excessively used. I did like the look of the film overall though, it was very sleek and cool.
And on one final note, how the hell did Michael Bay get away with referencing his own movies multiple times in this film? There were numerous mentions of “Bad Boys” and “The Rock'' throughout the film, which I couldn’t help but laugh at. I also don’t understand why he was so critical about CGI in this film, I didn’t notice any issues with it, and to be quite frank it seemed like most of the action was filmed practically to begin with (and if it wasn’t the CGI fooled me)! When a movie can be so stupid and ridiculous, yet still excite and entertain me I can’t help but give it credit. Ambulance is not a good film, but it's a hell of a thrill ride! Michael Bay is at his best here, it's all the elements you love about his filmmaking all put together! I had so much fun with it, which really surprised me! Try not to overthink it, and I think you’d have a lot of fun with it too! Its just some pure dumb fun, with some crazy action and insane drone shots! Its exactly what you’d expect from a Michael Bay movie, and yet it manages to be better than a lot of his more recent ones! I for one really enjoyed it!
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IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
RT Audience Score: 88%
Metacritic Score: 54
CinemaScore: A-
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Universal
Directed by Michael Bay
Screenplay by Chris Fedak
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González
Runtime: 2hr 16min
Rating: 14A
Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
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Needing money to cover his wife's medical bills, a decorated veteran teams up with his adoptive brother to steal $32 million from a Los Angeles bank. However, when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate thieves hijack an ambulance that's carrying a severely wounded cop and an EMT worker. Caught in a high-speed chase, the two siblings must figure out a way to outrun the law while keeping their hostages alive.
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Fun Fact: Before the police officers go to the bank, Officer Mark advises Officer Zach to ask a bank teller for a date through a movie quote from The Rock, a movie that's directed by Michael Bay.
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