Ambulance – GTA the Movie
Director: Michael Bay
Writer: Chris Fedak (Screenplay) Laurits Munch-Petersen (Original Screenplay)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza Gonzalez, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O’Donnell, Jackson White
Plot: Two robbers steal an ambulance after their heist goes awry.
Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Ambulance starts as military veteran Will Sharp (Abdul-Mateen II) turns to his brother Danny Sharp (Gyllenhaal) for a loan after finding every insurance avenue turned down, as he looks to save his wife Amy (Ingram) life with an operation none will cover.
Danny has a job that he drags Will into, a bank robbery, but when the robbery goes wrong, the brothers will find themselves hijacking an ambulance with paramedic Cam Thompson (Gonzalez) onboard where they lead a chase through LA, while fighting to save injured cop Zach (White) life.
Thoughts on Ambulance
Characters & Performances – Will Sharp is a military veteran that has struggled to find a job since he returned, his wife needs an operation he can’t find money for, leading him to turn to his criminal brother. He reluctantly joins Danny on a bank robbery and when things go wrong, he refuses to give up on his morals by refusing to hurt anyone, including going above and beyond to protect the hostages the brothers take. Danny Sharp is the criminal mastermind, who has a reputation for bank robberies, who has put together a team for a big score, pushing Will into helping him, he is a loose cannon, where he can go from calm and collective to aggressive and angry in the click of the fingers. Cam Thompson is the paramedic who has a reputation for saving everyone she delivers to the hospital, but is also known as being cold and nobody would want to work with her, her determination to save lives will see her go into the danger zone to save a shot cop, she will find herself a hostage, but isn’t taking any crap from the robbers, knowing her job is to save lives and stands toe to toe against them to do so. Captain Monroe is leading the take down of the criminals, he will have the resources that will run through the city as they look to stop the escalating situation. We do get plenty of supporting characters mostly around the authorities trying to stop the escalating situation, where they all have their own ideas on how to stop them. The performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez are great, showing the chaos their characters are going through, while having their own moments to shine, from the quiet moments Yahya and Eiza have, compared to the outbursts of rage Jake brings out.
Story – The story here will follows two bank robbers hijack an ambulance as they look to escape, leading to a massive chase around the city of LA. The story does keep everything very simple, escape the cops, while the cops can’t be too aggressive because one of their own in injured onboard. The more interesting side to the story comes from the characters, be it the Will Sharp character who channels the General Hummel, as a man left with no other option to help his loved ones, the paramedic who is known as the best in the city, but difficult to work with, the loose cannon criminal following in his father’s footsteps. The characters are flushed out while the mayhem unfolds in a way not many action films achieve.
Themes – Ambulance is an action movie that goes big with the chases, having the ambulance leading an endless amounts of authority vehicles around LA, even if a lot are flashy corners and car crashes, it all works to make the intense situation become edge of your seat. We get the typical Michael Bay camera work, with a lot of cuts between a lot of the action, which plays into the chaos we are experience, even if it looks like he got a new drone toy to play with for some shots.
Final Thoughts – Ambulance is the closest we have got to having a Grand Theft Auto movie, relentlessly intense from start to finish.
