Bank on big thrills
AMBULANCE Cert 15 ★★★★ In cinemas now
THERE was an early interlude during Ambulance’s London premiere on Wednesday night. Five minutes into the film, the screen went black, the house lights came on, and a flustered hostess returned to the stage.
Apparently, director Michael Bay was “doing something” but wanted to experience every second of his latest action movie with an audience.
So the packed cinema would have to wait for him to take his seat then watch it again from the beginning. The Transformers director has his critics but no one accuses him of a lack of confidence.
Thankfully, the film turned out to be worth the wait.
For the next 136 minutes, Bay took us on a relentless car chase through the streets of Los Angeles. Although based on a 2005 Danish film of the same name, this Ambulance is very much a Michael Bay vehicle.
All of his trademarks are here – whirling cameras, multi-vehicle pile-ups and a big helping of cheesy dialogue.
Yahya Abdul-mateen II plays Will Sharp, a war hero who agrees to join his career criminal adoptive brother Danny ( Jake
It has Bay’s trademarks from multiple car pile-ups to whirling cameras
Gyllenhaal) on a bank heist which will pay for his wife’s life-saving operation. But their plans quickly go sideways when the lads shoot a cop and commandeer the ambulance sent to rescue him.
As they are chased by the entire LA police department, feisty paramedic Cam Thompson (Eiza Gonzalez) is in the back trying to keep the policeman alive. In between frenetic shoot outs, deafening explosions and gut-churning medical procedures, Bay finds time to quote The Rock (one of his own films) and throw in a comedy dog. I rolled my eyes, covered my ears and found my heart pumping surprisingly hard against my chest.