Directed by Michael Bay
Written by Chris Fedak
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González
Rated R for intense violence, bloody images and language throughout
Runtime: 2 hours, 16 minutes
In theaters April 8

by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

I need to confess up front that I am a longtime fan of Michael Bay, going back as far as Armageddon and The Rock, the former of which I saw in theaters, and the latter of which I watched on cable almost constantly. I genuinely enjoy three of his five(!) Transformers movies, despite having little affection for the property in any other incarnation. Bay is Hollywood’s id, everything in his films is attuned for maximum effect all of the time, chasing the impulse for violence, explosions, crass humor, and a teenage boy’s version of sexuality at every opportunity. Not every movie should be a Michael Bay movie, but there’s no denying his authorial stamp on every frame of his films. 

Ambulance is arguably Bay at his most mature, as he leans into character dynamics and American psychology in a way that is much less cartoonish than his masterpiece Pain & Gain. This film follows Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a veteran who needs to raise money for his wife’s experimental cancer surgery. Desperate to get the cash to save his wife since the American healthcare system does nothing to help, he turns to his adoptive brother and lifelong criminal Danny  (Jake Gyllenhaal) for a loan. Instead, Danny ropes his brother into a bank heist planned to net $32 million from the federal government. After a virtuoso bank robbery sequence from Bay, the two brothers escape by hijacking an ambulance and making hostages of two people in the back of the vehicle: an EMT, Cam (Eiza González), and Zack, a cop that Will accidentally shot during their escape (Jackson White). From there, a chase ensues across Los Angeles, with Zack as a human shield that keeps the police’s options limited in how aggressively they can go after the brothers Sharp. 

That bank robbery-turned-street shootout is astounding, and provides a look into Bay’s worldview. Though his filmmaking may be rooted in id, the characters he favors are cool-headed, working-class men. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is the latest in a long line of these Bay heroes, from Sean Connery in The Rock to John Krasinski in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Their calm provides a contrast to the Bayhem, and they express their masculinity by circumventing institutions and protecting others. It is refreshing that Cam also fits this model, as she is easily the most exciting female character in his entire oeuvre. Meanwhile, Gyllenhaal plays every scene as if Danny is on the edge of a panic attack, finding higher and higher heights to scream his lines and prove that the character lacks any sense of control. All of his hired muscle is killed off in that heist sequence, because there was so little planning and so little accounting for his team’s bloodlust. 

Bay’s ideology–a sort of old school neoliberalism that is skeptical of institutions and is enamored with the idea of one person doing what they know is the right thing in the face of what they are supposed to do in that situation–is almost entirely driven by class consciousness that makes him stand out from most other white male American filmmakers. While it would be easy to say that Bay is merely expanding “snobs vs slobs'' into a political ideology, it is fascinating to see who is good and bad in this morally gray thriller. Will, a former solider, and Cam, as a paramedic, are shown as constantly heroic. Will’s service got him out of the life that Danny leads, and Cam’s dropping out of med school shows her to be exceptionally competent and hard working. How Bay sees Cam is perfectly contrasted during a sequence where she has to call some doctors for help. They are in nice upper middle class homes or on the golf course, distant and detached, reaping the benefits of their privilege while Cam thrusts her hands into open wounds in the back of a moving vehicle. Bay is almost equally skeptical of police as an institution, and the script implies several times that the cops endanger lives with their tactics, more concerned with trapping the bad guys than protecting and serving. This seems like a good time to remind you that in Transformers, the cop car is a Decepticon. 

But political themes are not why I will always show up for Bay. No one else does action like him, and I felt compelled to pour one out for all of the cameras and drones that gave their lives in the name of filmmaking. Bay continues to have little interest in sequence geography, intending to beam the most effective image right onto the screen and into the brain. There’s no real reason for an ambulance to speed down a loading dock, cop cars repeatedly crashing into crates so they don’t endanger the life of their boy in the back–except it looks rad as hell. Bay may lack dynamism, but his attempt to move every sequence at a near-frenetic pace gives his movies the feeling of a sugar rush. 

Ambulance is Bay working near the top of his game, and in territory that will be more politically palatable to many when compared to his more recent efforts. While I am still sad that I never got to see 6 Underground on a massive screen (thanks, Netflix), I was thrilled to be kicked around and dazzled by this sheer spectacle. Plus it’s a good reminder that the American healthcare system is robbery in broad daylight, and those keeping you alive are best served when not thinking about how you’re going to pay for it.