Ambulance offers Rock-solid action
Camille Thompson’s mantra is ‘‘the worst day of their life is just our Tuesday afternoon’’. Detachment has always been the way Los Angeles paramedic Thompson (Eiza Gonzalez) has dealt with the stresses of her job. It’s an attitude and mantra that shocks her latest driver and EMT Scott (Colin Woodell), especially when she insists on going for an early lunch, straight after dealing with a horrific car crash.
He had been told of her ability to keep anyone alive for 20 minutes and warned that no-one wanted to be her partner – now he had a sense of the reasons for both claims.
However, their sushi and enchilada-fuelled ‘‘banter’’ is interrupted by gunshots. Turns out, the bank around the corner from their food court is being robbed – and the heist hasn’t exactly gone to plan.
Having been stymied by his medical insurance company, former military man Will
Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) felt he only had one remaining option to try and fund the experimental surgery his beloved wife so desperately needs – reaching out to his estranged brother-from-another-mother
Daniel (Jake Gyllenhaal).
But instead of a loan, or a small job, Daniel’s offer is for Will to fill the vacant spot on a fiveman team set for $32 million bank heist that morning.
However, after an initially smooth takeover, their plans go awry, thanks to lovelorn LAPD officer Zach Parker (Jackson White), who is determined to ask one of the tellers on a date.
Things quickly descend into chaos, resulting in the Sharp siblings finding themselves with only half the money and no getaway vehicle. Then, when Parker attempts to further hamper their escape, Will instinctively pumps two bullets into him.
Fearing how a dead cop may change the stakes for them, Daniel spies Camille and Scott’s ambulance and persuades them to accommodate three more passengers. Suddenly, Camille finds herself being forced to take extreme measures under intense pressure to ensure both she and Parker stay alive.
You know, it’s amazing what Michael Bay can create when he has a plot for inspiration, rather than just a series of plastic toys.
Working from the template of the Thomas Bo Larsen-starring 2005 Danish film Ambulancen, Prodigal Son, Forever and Chuck creator Chris Fedak has crafted a runaway train of a thriller that’s inventive, subverts expectations and just keeps ramping up the tension, as its ‘‘cross between a cage fight and a chess match’’ plays out.
While initially boasting the swagger of Spike Lee’s Inside Job and more than a hint of the Mark Wahlberg-led Italian Job remake, this ended up mainly reminding me of that most propulsive of ’90s actioners Speed (although it also has a Blues Brothers- esque propensity for cop car carnage).
Sure, Ambulance could have been at least a quarter-of-an-hour shorter ( Ambulancen clocked in at only 80 minutes) and a little less of the director’s trademark lens-flare, orange skies and overcaffeinated score (as it becomes the third movie this year to feature Yacht-rock specialist Christopher Cross) would reduce irritation levels, but really this is the best bout of Bay-hem since John Patrick Mason met Stanley Goodspeed in San Francisco more than 25 years ago. It’s kinetic, frenetic, visceral and violent, but also terrifically entertaining.
Clearly having a ball, especially with advancements in drone technology, Bay even slips in verbal nods to both The Rock and his other great mid-’90s effort Bad Boys. However, this is also a love letter to Los Angeles, something evident in the copious sweeping shots of the City of Angels, myriad locations and the bookending title which highlights two particular letters in the word Ambulance.
While this intimate epic features a cadre of quirky and sometimes crazy characters (the impressive ensemble includes The Dry’s Keir O’Donnell and Fear the Walking Dead’s Garret Dillahunt), the central trio of The Matrix Resurrection’s AbdulMateen II, Godzilla vs Kong’s Gonzalez and Gyllenhaal are what sell the drama – and sizzle.
The latter continues his compelling recent run of flawed, complicated characters (this is the third in a row after SpiderMan: Far From Home and The Guilty), while Gonzalez is an unexpected revelation, not the least because of Bay’s reputation for underwritten and often woeful female roles. She might be thirdbilled, but she is Ambulance’s breakout star.
❚ Ambulance is now screening in cinemas nationwide.