Michael Bay (“Bad Boys,” “Transformers”) isn’t exactly what one would call a good filmmaker in the traditional sense. While his films all have an audience and he’s had plenty of box office success, most of his films are, to put it lightly, remembered unfavorably. But he has a distinct style and visual language and clearly loves the art of movie making, so a new film from Bay is always an interesting proposition, such is the case with his latest film “Ambulance.”
Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Aquaman”) and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Zodiac,” Nightcrawler”) as adopted brothers Will and Danny, respectively, the film follows their failed attempt to rob a bank in downtown Los Angeles to help pay for Will’s wife Amy’s, played by Moses Ingram (“The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi”), experimental surgery. They make their getaway by commandeering an ambulance and taking EMT Cam, played by Eiza González (“From Dusk till Dawn: The Series,” “Hobbs & Shaw”), and injured police offer Zach, played by Jackson White (“Mrs. Fletcher,” “Tell Me Lies”), hostage inside, which leads to a citywide manhunt from the LAPD, including Captain Monroe, played by Garret Dillahunt (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Raising Hope”), and FBI agent Anson, played by Keir O’Donnell (“American Sniper,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”).
This is easily the most straightforward movie Bay has made in years. There’s no intergalactic threat or complicated morals on display. It’s a simple tale of two brothers on the run, trying to keep each other alive. Bay excels in this simplicity as the film doesn’t have an overarching plot, rather escalating situations that pop up to both impede the brothers and put their love to the test. Its in this way that Bay successfully builds and sells us on their love, making it the central emotional force of the film.
That love and emotional force really works, not only because its built up in the film but because of the skill and chemistry of Gyllenhaal and Abdul-Mateen. The latter is a delightful force of calm fury, playing the straight man of the pair and really nailing the dramatic moments. It’s just the right blend of action and dramatic acting that helps make his character easy to root for. Meanwhile Gyllenhaal might just be the more perfect actor for Bay’s wavelength. He gets the extremes of his filmmaking style and plays perfectly into them, completely unhinging himself from reality and full diving into the world of overblown machismo and excess that is a Michael Bay film.
González plays off the two well, and she quickly establishes herself as the film’s big character to root for, building an increasingly interesting central moral dilemma that’s far more complicated than the film initially makes it seem. Meanwhile, the rest of the supporting cast is all fine, fitting neatly into their respective archetypes and roles as written. It’s the same determined police captain you’ve seen in every movie like this and the same goes for the FBI agent, injured cop, concerned sick wife, etc.
That central moral dilemma is not only the idea that, despite being a decorated veteran, Will has been driven to this point to afford required surgery for his wife, but the question of who the audience should root for. How can Cam “win” or even survive if Danny and Will get away? It might not be the most complex thing in the world, but its far more layered than you might expect from a movie like this. The same goes for the portrayal of the police force, which is depicted as aggressive and brutish, even when one of their own is injured. It’s a stark contrast to the cool headed, morally black and white, pro-military and police films Bay has made in the past, and its more interesting as a film and within his filmography because of it.
Whoever decided to give Michael Bay access to drones to shoot this film deserves a Nobel Prize. While there are plenty of standard shots, both on the ground and flying high, there are also a handful of sequences where it feels as though the POV is a drone injected with adrenaline, zipping along the LA skyline. It can feel dizzying at times, but it helps us get into the heads of our two brotherly leads. The drone shots are confusing and disorienting, but so is their constantly changing situation and it works to communicate that in a fun and visually inventive way.
All of these individual elements could be seen as simplistic and nothing new, and they absolutely are. But the combination of all of them together in this movie feel like a slam dunk. The last thirty minutes especially are a microcosm of what Bay as a director can do when he’s working with the building blocks that he knows best: masculine love and emotion, with dutch angles, blood, tears, and epic music with plenty of guns on display. Its remarkably, shockingly effective.
As a popcorn movie, its hard not to enjoy “Ambulance”, but as a Michael Bay film, it feels like a revelation. Its so clear that, while there have been moments of coolness, Bay has been sleeping through his career post-the first “Transformers” film. If this is what he can do when he’s firing on all cylinders, lets hope he gets to keep doing this kind of stuff for a very long time. It’s a big and bombastic in its action, but focused in its drama, resulting in a big macho character drama the likes of which doesn’t really get made anymore without a big license on the poster. It’s an absolute blast. 4.5/5
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