Film Review: "Ambulance" (2022).

"It was supposed to be a simple heist." This is Ambulance. This action thriller film directed by Michael Bay, adapted by Chris Fedak and based on the 2005 Danish film of the same name by Laurits Munch-Petersen and Lars Andreas Pedersen. Decorated veteran Will Sharp is desperate for money to cover his wife’s medical bills and asks for help from the one person he knows he shouldn’t—his adoptive brother Danny. A charismatic career criminal, Danny instead offers him a score: the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history: $32 million. With his wife’s survival on the line, Will can’t say no. But when their getaway goes spectacularly wrong, the desperate brothers hijack an ambulance with a wounded cop clinging to life and ace EMT Cam Thompson onboard. In a high-speed pursuit that never stops, Will and Danny must evade a massive, city-wide law enforcement response, keep their hostages alive, and somehow try not to kill each other, all while executing the most insane escape L.A. has ever seen.

In late August 2015, an American adaptation of the 2005 Danish film of the same name was announced with Fedak penning the adaptation and Phillip Noyce attached to direct. However, Noyce was replaced by directing duo Navot Papushado and Aharon Keshales, but they departed the project as well and the project entered development hell. In 2020, after the release of 6 Underground (2019) and the cancellation of his next project, Black Five, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles, Bay pitched an idea to Donna Langley, the Chairwoman of Universal Pictures, and said he wanted to direct a "small" film focusing on the tension between characters trapped in a claustrophobic setting. Bay was presented with Ambulance and told that the film could be shot on a relatively low-budget in a short period of time. In early November 2020, Bay was announced as the new director, and the film was referred to as a "character-driven project" that would move away from Bay's normality of "standard explosion-heavy fare" while using elements from Speed (1994) and Bad Boys (1995). Bay did not watch or read the screenplay of the original Danish film because he wanted to make the film his own. By early January 2021, Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González and Garret Dillahunt were cast. To prepare for the role, González spent three months "working intimately with firefighters, EMTs, surgeons, [and] everyone around the medical care system." She also rented an ambulance and had a friend drive her around to improve her balance. At the same time, with a budget of $40 million, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late March. Filming took place in Los Angeles, California.

The film stars Gyllenhaal, Mateen II, González and Dillahunt. I already gave up along before this monstrosity ended, 10 minutes in to be exact. I may be a Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but even I have my limits.

Bay's clumsy but visually impressive movie should partly sate anyone waiting for the superior thrills and spills of the next Fast & Furious outing.

Simon says Ambulance receives:

Also, see my review for 6 Underground.