Ambulance

Michael Bay’s most tolerable movie in years, Ambulance follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s Danny and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Will as they conspire to pull off a bank robbery that will net them millions of dollars – with complications ensuing after the pair are forced to stow away on an ambulance containing a paramedic (Eiza González’s Cam) and an injured cop (Jackson White’s Zach). It’s certainly not surprising to discover that Ambulance has been infused with as over-the-top and less-than-subtle a sensibility as one might’ve anticipated, as Bay, armed with Chris Fedak’s screenplay, delivers a briskly-paced thriller that fares best in its entertaining (and somewhat promising) opening stretch – with the aforementioned heist certainly kicking the proceedings off with a bang and laying the groundwork for an exciting, action-packed piece of work. (There’s little doubt, of course, that Bay’s notoriously kinetic visual approach does diminish the effectiveness of certain high-octane moments, ultimately.) The movie’s persistently watchable feel is, however, threatened by an overlong running time and flabby midsection, and it goes without saying that Ambulance generally feels like a really solid 90 minute actioner trapped within the confines of a typically bloated and self-indulgent Bay extravaganza. Still, Ambulance, buoyed by its solid performances and smattering of engrossing sequences, mostly comes off as a better-than-expected endeavor that could’ve been much, much worse.

**1/2 out of ****