Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González

Based on the 2005 Danish film Ambulancen, Michael Bay signed on as director of this American remake out of equal parts convenience and necessity, telling his agent he is “tired of being locked up at home” during the pandemic and just wants “to get out and shoot something fast”. 

As haphazard and opportunistic as that might sound, there is nothing half-arsed about Bay’s vision, endeavour and execution of Ambulance, a crime action-thriller that seriously impresses for a film working with a $40M budget! 

Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is in need of a large sum of money to pay for his wife’s surgery and decides to turn to his estranged and adoptive brother, Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), to request a loan. Observing his brother’s vulnerability and sensing the opportunity to fulfil a need of his own, Danny instead offers Will a larger sum of money if he helps him to steal several millions by robbing the Los Angeles Federal Bank. Needless to say, Will reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, highly respected paramedic Cam (Eiza González) and her rookie partner Scott (Colin Woodell) are grabbing food shortly after completing a job before they are called to the bank after reports of gunfire. All hell breaks loose resulting in the brothers hijacking the ambulance and going on the run from several branches of law enforcements.


From the moment Will and Danny hijack the ambulance, Ambulance is a movie that essentially becomes nearly two hours of almost non-stop car chase sequences. Though a lot goes completely wrong for the brothers with the heist, a lot must and does indeed fall to their fortunes while on the run for it to remain this way as long as it does. The same can be said for the film itself too.

Set and shot over 38 days in downtown Los Angeles, parts of the film, especially the chase sequences, were shot using First Person View (FPV) drones. FPV drones are used for the sport drone racing (yes, that’s a real sport!) and allow pilots to see only what the drone can see from a camera mounted onto the nose of the drone. These impressive and hugely effective sequences provide the film with an innovative perspective and play a major part in maintaining its stress-inducing immediacy. Ambulance is perhaps the epitome of popcorn-entertainment movie-escapism, but may not offset any tension you could already be carrying. It is one heck of a tense film courtesy of its ever-present score, busy editing, pacing, loudness, and the constant nervous energy on display in Jake Gyllenhaal. It is masterful at creating and upholding chaos. 

One claim Ambulance doesn’t live up to (nor does it need to really) is that it’s a character-driven project that moves away from Bay’s normality of standard explosion-heavy affair. The script contains as much characterisation and depth as there is shell on a peanut and is incredibly basic. Nevertheless, there are one or two short yet sweet surprises in this department. More importantly, the screenplay never takes itself too seriously, consistently proving its sense of humour is well intact by being intentionally implausible and preposterous, and by poking fun at itself.

Ambulance is showing in cinemas across Australia from April 7th.

Moviedoc thanks Universal Pictures for the invite to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

Follow on Twitter – Moviedoc / LIKE on Facebook – @moviedoc13 / Follow on Instagram – moviedoc_melbourne

©