AMBULANCE

Michael Bay is back to his usual tricks with a new toy to provide him with new camera angles. Equipped with a drone, Bay is able to scale and descend buildings and heights previously unimaginable to him. The story opens with veteran Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who's wife needs an experimental surgery but his benefits will not cover due to it being experimental. Needing over $200,000 for the surgery, he quickly turns to his brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), who's a career criminal. In desperate need of money and Danny quickly on his way to another score, Will grudgingly agrees to tag along for a claim at the $32 million prize. However, things go awry when they take a LAPD officer as a hostage, who attacks Danny, and Will has to shoot in order to fend him off. Holding up an ambulance as hostage, the pair quickly make their getaway with LAPD, the FBI, and others hot on their trail. Gyllenhaal is the star here as psychopath, career criminal Danny, who's father was also a bank robber and who he learned at the knee from. He's suave, seductive, charming, crazy, and maniacal all at once, depending on if he's on the offense or playing defense. Meanwhile, Will wears many hats as the former veteran/triage specialist/driver, who has a conscience and doesn't want to further injury the police officer he's shot or the paramedic Cam (Eiza González), who just happened to be in the ambulance upon their hijacking. A story that quickly brings the audience in but then soon drags along as the film becomes bloated and overstays its welcome with a 136 minute run time. Plenty of Bay style camera shots with an ending that feels cheated to those who have stuck with it. However, and with the exception of one scene, a fun, popcorn film that the audience can escape into without the over-politicized or agenda driven woke cultural cramming their narcissism down the audiences throat. 6/10