Human society can be viewed as a vast extension of the internal systems that keep each of us alive: a complex, interconnected network of organisms with specific roles that must cooperate to serve the needs of the whole. White blood cells, proteins, and the like don’t have individual sentience, yet every living thing responsible for keeping a location operating, like, say, a huge metropolis, is daily confronted with the choice dilemma.
The title “Ambulance,” from director Michael Bay and writer Chris Fedak, is stylised to emphasise the “LA” in the middle of the word, highlighting the significance and prominence of the movie’s setting: the city of Los Angeles, in both its promotional materials and its end credits. The emphasis “Ambulance” places on its urban environment is well deserved, despite the fact that an excessive number of movies prefer to say that their settings are “like another character” in their movies.
In a press release from Universal, Fedak states that despite the film’s non-stop, massive action, “it was still an intimate drama, principally about three characters,” and that he fell in love with scripting “Ambulance” because the plot allowed him to make it about real people. These three main individuals are a representative sample of LA’s population; they make decisions that naturally have an impact on those around them. As a result of Fedak and Bay’s desire to approach the movie from a broad perspective (both metaphorically and literally in terms of the photography), “Ambulance” develops into a surprisingly complex and empathic film where the distinction between good and evil is less obvious.
Lending a helping (and healing) hand
The 2005 Danish movie “Ambulancen,” on which “Ambulance” is based, likewise combines action and suspense with a number of moral character conflicts. But if that movie was more personal, Bay and Fedak’s “Ambulance” covers almost the entire city of Los Angeles, with the three protagonists at the centre of the struggle.
These three characters—LA County paramedic Cam Thompson (Eiza Gonz lez), Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), his adopted brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), and others—spend the majority of the movie trapped inside the movie’s eponymous ambulance, which the brothers commandeer following a botched bank robbery. Fourth passenger Zach (Jackson White), a rookie police officer fresh out of the academy, is mostly unconscious but still fighting for his life after being shot by Will during the robbery.
Danny finally drives the ambulance right up to the emergency room entrance of a hospital after a protracted and terrifying chase across LA in an effort to save Will, who had been inadvertently shot by Cam. When Cam admits her error, Danny gets furious and tries to get the LAPD and FBI units outside to disperse so he can get out of the car and kill Cam in front of everyone, knowing it will mean his own death shortly after. Will, who is still alive, shoots Danny from behind as he exits the car. The two brothers exchange one last glance as Danny passes away and Will is taken into custody.
Cam pushes through a mob to take Will into the hospital when Agent Clark (Keir O’Donnell) tries to stop her from aiding her old captive. Cam then covertly transfers a few million dollars from the robbery into the possession of Will’s wife, Amy (Moses Ingram). While Cam visits the bed of a little girl, Lindsey (Briella Guiza), whose life she rescued before she was taken hostage, while Will recovers from his injuries in the hospital while in police custody, Officer Zach claims that Will saved his life.
1970s characterizations meets ‘Bayhem’
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and “Dog Day Afternoon,” among other classics, are cited in the official marketing materials for the movie as major influences on “Ambulance.” Impressively, “Ambulance” nails the way those movies portrayed their characters, refusing to demonise or lionise anyone and doing so with grit, sensitivity, and complexity. When it comes to describing these characters and their motivations, Fedak’s writing frequently hits the mark; nonetheless, the moral conundrums each of them faces are never offered clear-cut or simple solutions. In “Ambulance,” like in other 1970s movies, those who commit crimes have incredibly sympathetic motivations for doing so, just as those who support law and order don’t necessarily have other people’s best interests at heart.
Because “Ambulance” delivers the peanut butter-and-chocolate delight of having complicated characters be abruptly caught up in, well, a Michael Bay film, the movie constantly shouts things that would go down easier more naturally. Let me repeat that for emphasis: Shot for just $40 million as a way for the director to make a small film during the pandemic: In Bay’s “small,” a large number of vehicles are involved in collisions and explosions. The movie “Ambulance” supports Danny and Will’s motto of “we don’t stop,” taking off as quickly as a bat out of hell when things start to go wrong. This gives Bay permission to unleash his trademark “Bayhem,” a cinema of excess that is now so well-known that it is the subject of this Every Frame a Painting analysis, in addition to being discussed in Film’s review of the film.
Using a combination of mobile camera cranes, helicopters, and drones, Bay and the director of photography Roberto De Angelis fling the camera around in a way that would make Sam Raimi blush, reflecting the life-and-death stakes of the characters visually at all times. Although the story is personal, Bay makes sure that the big picture is always in focus, and that both the cast of the movie and the city of Los Angeles are never out of shot. While there are constant explosions and Danny, Will, and Cam’s situation is the main concern, everything is interconnected and everyone has a different viewpoint.
An advertisement for understanding
Knowing that Bay began directing commercials and that he is an expert commercial director is the key to understanding, if not necessarily appreciating, Bay as a director. Given that Bay is a master at packing a lot of information into a short period of time, as evidenced by the brilliance of his famous “Got Milk?” commercial, his feature-length films frequently feel suffocating and overstuffed. His propensity for the sale extends not only to the massive amounts of overt product placement in his films but also to his entire aesthetic, making sure that every performer on screen is as attractive as possible and that every emotional beat is exploited to the fullest.
The fact that Bay uses this manner to tell a story that calls for empathy, depth, and argument is one of the things that makes “Ambulance” so distinctive and intriguing, even though he has never changed his approach and probably never will. Every character’s plot is wrapped up, but there is still uncertainty about their actions and how the spectator is supposed to perceive them. Since he finds it difficult to categorise such characters as “good” or “bad,” Bay instead sells them on their own terms: Danny atones for his wrongdoings while dying genuinely in love for his brother, Will crosses any line in order to selflessly save another, and Cam learns that saving lives can go beyond predetermined boundaries.
In this sense, “Ambulance” transforms into a message of understanding, an incredibly radical idea in the wake of Trump’s election, the current pandemic, and the impending end of the planet. The movie recognises Cam’s bravery in choosing to dedicate her life to helping others in spite of her troubled past, even if the film’s concluding shot closely resembles an EMT recruitment video. Of course, the actual last image is of Los Angeles, the city that the movie is set in and where all of these individuals and more must attempt to coexist and support one another. The military has typically been portrayed in Bay’s movies as a single, all-powerful force for good, but in this movie, the authority figures are challenged. According to “Ambulance,” we shouldn’t have faith in organisations or systems but rather in people. We all need to contribute if the human body is to be preserved.
