Review by John Delia
Director Michael Bay puts together one his signature crime thrillers and comes up with Ambulance, an explosive rollercoaster ride. It’s normally what you expect from the famous director producer, except this gem shines brighter than most of his previous winners. The film opens this weekend and to get the most out of all the action see it at a theater with big screens and especially *Dolby Atmos sound.
Ex-military veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) husband and father has hit a wall with finances and needs to acquire enough money to get the expensive medicine to fight off his wife’s cancer. He’s the adopted brother of Danny Sharp (Jake Gyllenhaal), one of the most notorious bank robbers in the country. After exhausting all his possible lenders, he goes to Danny to get the $150 thousand dollars he needs to save his wife. Cornered and desperate he accepts to do a bank job with Danny that he is told to be a sure thing.
It’s a daring proposition and like most easy money, the bank job goes awry and we find Will and Danny on the run. Director Michael Bay digs down deep into his bag of movie magic tricks and delivers an extreme chase that tops almost anything he has done, including films like Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, to name a few. Here its non-stop slam bam explosions, extreme gunfire, wrecks and more as his characters travel though Los Angeles city streets. His production becomes not only the vehicle, but an actual character in the movie, it’s that good.
And how could he miss with two of Hollywood’s notable stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Night Crawler, End of Watch) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, (The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Matrix Resurrections). Teaming up, they balance each other with maniac Danny and well-meaning Will. Over confident, Danny wants to walk away with $16 million he has stolen and he laughs at danger. Will, filled with desperation and angst, knows he must walk away with enough money to make his family whole again or die trying.
Ambulance has been rated R by the MPAA for intense violence, bloody images and language throughout. It’s the top actioner so far this year, bar none, and grabs my highest rating. For thriller junkies, don’t miss it on the big screen.
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González
Director: Michael Bay
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
MPAA Rating: Rated R for intense violence, bloody images and language throughout
Running Time: 2 hrs. 16 min.
Opening Date: April 8, 2022
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Released in: Theaters
*Dolby Atmos: unlike traditional channel based systems, Dolby Atmos doesn’t just send audio at discrete levels to each speaker. The technology can also produce up to 118 simultaneous sound objects, allowing the sound designer to place each sound and voice to exact points within the ‘soundfield’ rather than simply assign them to specific channels. These objects can be manipulated and moved around within the space creating a convincing 3D soundstage… By Becky Roberts published February 09, 2022, in WHAT HI-FI?