Ambulance (2022)

Ambulance (2022)

5/10

Starring

Jake Gyllenhaal

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Eiza Gonzalez

 

Directed by Michael Bay

 

I would give this movie an average rating for being all out there to make you have fun watching an action flick. The fast-paced, shoot-em-up style is something you’ll enjoy if you’re into gunfights and car chases. But when it comes to the acting of the leads and the story, not so much. The plot holes are so glaring that you have to overlook a lot to enjoy the movie.

I felt Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance lacked conviction for the character he was playing. His co-lead, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, played a character that was poorly written, and his behavior was more annoying than it needed to be at times. That aside, I did enjoy parts of the action ride and appreciated how Michael Bay chose to kill off one of the officers leading the pursuit. Even though the movie was predictable in many ways, that twist—killing the annoying officer halfway through—caught me off guard. Movies usually have such annoying characters, and you just wish someone would punch them in the face, but Bay took it a step further and killed him.

Another plus for the movie is the cinematography—I enjoyed that aspect.

Ambulance is about a bank robbery gone so disastrously wrong that it’s hard to imagine it being any more chaotic. Danny (Gyllenhaal) and Will (Abdul-Mateen II) are adoptive brothers raised by an abusive criminal father. Danny followed in their father’s footsteps, while Will joined the army to escape that life.

After finishing his service, Will comes back home to nothing. He’s broke and struggling to take care of his family. His wife needs $231,000 for an experimental surgery that his insurance won’t cover. Desperate, Will reaches out to Danny for help, and Danny ropes him into a bank robbery. It turns out Danny has been successfully robbing banks for years, but this job with Will goes horribly wrong.

Everything unravels when an officer named Zach, who has a crush on a bank teller, shows up at the bank to ask for her number. Unfortunately, this happens right as Danny and his gang are in the middle of the heist. The LAPD arrives quickly, killing all of Danny’s crew and leaving just Danny and Will to escape.

The two hijack an ambulance and take the paramedic and Zach hostage. With $16 million still in their possession, they drive off in the ambulance, pursued by the police. Danny starts calling in favors, trying to find a way to get away with the money.

I can only recommend this movie if you have nothing better to watch. Otherwise, it’s just another Michael Bay film—lots of noise and less-than-average coherent thinking from the characters.