Whenever someone mentions Michael Bay, the reaction can usually inform you of how pretentious of a movie fan one is. Known for his excessive visual stimulation, Bay has made a successful career of delivering action popcorn movies that typically make lots of money. You can’t really blame the guy that he can make a career out of blowing up giant toys. Everyone has seen one of his movies, just not always voluntarily. Luckily, Bay has gotten better with his craft and AMBULANCE is an accumulation of all that he’s learned.

Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Candyman) is in desperate need for cash for his family. He turns to his adopted brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal, Donnie Darko) for help. Instead of handing out a loan, Danny offers him to be part of a bank robbery he’s about to commit. Naturally, things don’t go as planned as a cop ends up interrupting the score, trying to ask one of the employees out on a date. Well, that date never happens as the cop ends up shot and the brothers find themselves hijacking an ambulance, trying to keep the cop alive.

Our two leads are incredibly charismatic and make their troubled relationship believable. The chemistry between them helps us drive through this two-and-a-half-hour ride of chaos and makes it more fun than expected. AMBULANCE asks its audience to root for the bad guys and it succeeds. The anti-hero is nothing new, but rarely done right like it is here. Bay actually feels like he’s learned to restrain himself from excessiveness and that helps elevate AMBULANCE into one of his more recommendable films.

The 4K disc was designed for Bay fans and fans of a nice audio boost. The Dolby Atmos track is the seller here as all speakers are utilized. Cars and sirens blare from all corners. The mix never slows down and will help show off to your new visitors. Presented in Dolby Vision, the color spectrum is a real shiner. Both dark and bright levels are strong, bringing AMBULANCE to a roaring light.

While there are a handful of special features, they all fit a tight ten minutes. Even though there’s nothing too detailed about the making of AMBULANCE, we get some glimpses thanks to the cast and crew. “Pedal to the Metal” is a fun look at the car chase sequence and Bay’s commitment to do as much as he can practically. The more tech-savvy fan will indulge in “Aerial Assault” which covers how drone technology was utilized to capture aerial images.

Anyone renting or buying AMBULANCE is looking to get distracted for a couple of hours with a good time and it succeeds. Although this is an action movie taking place via a car chase, it feels like a contained thriller. The actors are just exciting as anything exploding and the narrative carrying the script will make root for the bad guys. The main issue here is that there’s no reason this movie should be longer than two hours. It’s too long and interrupts the flow at times, which some cutbacks would help with the pacing issues. With that being said, AMBULANCE delivers on a solid cast, great chase sequences, and the 4K disc has impressive technical aspects that it worth purchasing.

AMBULANCE is available to own now on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, and DVD.

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Jovy Skol

Jovy grew up loving all kinds of horror movies which is ironic because his parents hated them. CANDYMAN still scares the shit out of him and it doesn’t help that he lives in the Chicago suburbs. He loves venturing into lesser-known exploitation films of the 70s and being introduced to new movies. Along with movies, Jovy loves horror video-games and books, including comics. Some of his favorite franchises include SILENT HILL, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and the RESIDENT EVIL games.

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