Review: Ambulance

If feels so long since I have experience a new Michael Bay film. Even longer for seeing one on the big screen.

His style of film-making has frustrated me at times. But he has made some fun action films in the past also. Even in some of his more disappointing features, there are sequences that make them not a total loss. Best example is the bombing sequence in Pearl Harbor.

I will however always be annoyed at Armageddon, a film that me annoyed almost throughout its entire duration. It's a shame that I'm in the minority on that opinion.

So with all that history, I was certainly intrigued to see what Bay has conjured this time.

I would first recommend bringing your Michael Bay bingo cards, because this film is stacked with his tropes. From the over-use of editing to the point that it causes you to get a headache, to characters praising Bay's previous films, every scene constantly being at sunrise or sunset, the rotating tracking shots around characters talking and of course those vintage over use of crashes and explosions.

Now, it seems Bay has found a new toy in the form of a drone. With the help of a drone racing world champion at the helm, there are multiple uses of drone camerawork.

While I have seen this type of camerawork be well utilised, this like many of Bay's aspects was over-used and badly executed for the most part. There were some great tracking moments. But the clear majority of it was random exaggerated movements around buildings that we saw for a brief second before being abruptly cut to something else.

Adding to all of this is the ridiculous duration. It is 2hrs 16mins and for a film with this B-movie style premise, it should have been 90mins at the very most. It it ended up being that long, I probably would have tolerated the problems a bit more.

But despite all of these issues, there was fun to be had. The film is saved by its premise, the action sequences and the energy this film gives off. It does have its thrills. It's just a shame the duration does make it an exhausting watch as we get towards the final act.

The performances I feel are as good as they could be. It was hard to appreciate the acting as the amount of cuts doesn't let the performances shine enough. But from what I could tell, there were some solid performances in there. Jake Gyllenhaal was a surprising casting choice for a Michael Bay film I felt. But I liked the intensity he gave to his character. It really helped certain sequences work. Eiza Gonzalez was a nice support and had entertaining chemistry with Gyllenhaal's character.

I still haven't got into Yahya Abdul-Mateen II yet. I haven't seen a performance that has made be a fan of his yet. There are some moments in this that show why he has become part of big projects lately. But for now, I'm still waiting for that breakthrough.

Garret Dillahunt had that typical over-the-top performance that you get in almost every Bay film. It was used in enough portions to not quite be annoying. I almost thought it was Bay regular Josh Duhamel who had slightly let himself go.

I may be frustrated by it. But there was enough good in it to outweigh the bad. It's pretty relentless and vibe it has gives you rush of adrenaline to be engrossed with it. But it's so far from perfect.

It may be another messy entry by Bay, but I had a good time watching it and I would happily watch it again. There needs to be campaign however it make a 90mins cut of it.

Rating: 7/10