CRASH! BANG! WALLOP! WHAT A MOVIE!

 

A plate of haute cuisine served with a fine wine in opulent surroundings is never really a bad thing. Nor is a classic novel, a life affirming piece of music or an example of art at it's finest, but sometimes one wants a big fat burger. That, in cinematic terms is what Michael Bay's Ambulance is.

Bay, for many years now has been the king of bombast over content, the go to guy for big bangs and fast frills. With Ambulance he has managed to blend high concept 90's action with Tarantinoesque pop culture references. The star of the movie Jake Gyllenhaal is in the top three Hollywood actors this century and has shown his ability in films like Zodiac, Nightcrawler and Prisoners and in this role he plays it perfectly as an anti-hero turned, out and out bad guy. His presence and energy literally drive the film as does his co-star Yahya Abdil-Mateen II. They make a great yin and yang partnership.

The pace of the film is exhilarating, the action given great velocity due to absurdly audacious drone camera work. Is it a guilty pleasure? In a way yes, but that detracts from it's quality. As a heist movie it works well as there is real jeopardy for the leading characters, as a buddy movie it also works as the inter dynamics of the two leads works well. 

The concept is executed perfectly and with great pizzazz. It's cousins are The Rock, Speed and Con Air, in fact The Rock is referenced by one of the characters.

I have seen several movies of real quality this year, Licorice Pizza, Titane, Belfast, Red Rocket, Boiling Point, The Worst Person In The World, all of which I would have to say were 'better' films than Ambulance, but I can honestly say that (so far) Ambulance is my favourite of 2022.

Why not take a ride while it's still on the big screen? After all who doesn't occasionally fancy a nice big juicy burger?