Ambulance is the latest film by director Michael Bay to hit theaters, adding yet another entry to the Hollywood icon's long list of action films featuring his unique directorial stylings. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Eiza Gonzalez, Ambulance proves to be one of Bay's better works.
Though his career has had its astronomic highs and embarrassing lows, Bay's unique voice remains a steadfast throughline within all of his work, thanks in part to the various techniques that have become trademarks of the action director. Though Ambulance departs from much of Bay's previous work in several ways, it is certainly not immune to the staples of his career.
America
It is no secret that Michael Bay is a man who loves his country. Known for including patriotic messages in his films, Bay is often known to feature American symbolism in some way, shape, or form, throughout each of his projects. Films like Pearl Harbor, 13 Hours, and Pain and Gain are perhaps the most notorious examples of this trope.
Though Ambulance is not as heavy-handed as certain other Michael Bay-directed films, it certainly carries its own undertones that speak to the status of the American Dream. This particular film is somewhat more pessimistic in this regard than previous films, as it features a veteran who has become so desperate that he turns to crime in order to pay for his wife's medical treatments, a sadly unrealized American dream.
Sweeping Establishing Shots
Michael Bay has a love for wide and sweeping establishing shots, often portraying the city in which a film is set in all its glory. With the picturesque city of Los Angeles, California serving as the setting of Ambulance's events, Bay certainly makes good use of the city's landscape.
This trademark is given new life in Ambulance, as Michael Bay seems to have discovered drone shots. As such, the film is littered with new and experimental establishing shots that show Los Angeles from new angles, quite literally. Utilizing this new drone technology, Bay has truly improved on one of his old signature techniques.
Dogs
As the owner of several English Mastiffs over the course of his life, it is clear that Michael Bay is an avid dog lover. Naming his pets after different Transformers, Bay also enjoys giving them small cameos in his films, including a surprisingly fun appearance from one of his dogs in Ambulance.
Bay's dog Nitro appears as Captain Monroe's English Mastiff in the film, who is accidentally caught up in the chaos of the day--including participating in one of the film's many car chases. Working with animals isn't always an easy feat, however, and Bay has reported that the day of Nitro's big appearance was one of his tensest days on set.
Government Agencies Get Involved
Action films always seem to get cranked up a notch whenever the government gets involved. Michael Bay certainly seems to realize this, having such a plot point occur in almost every one of his films. Whether it be through the army, navy, marines, or FBI, some major government organization is almost guaranteed to show up at some point before the film's end.
The FBI plays a major role in Ambulance, as they work with various other law enforcement groups to bring Danny and Will Sharp to justice. Unlike in many other action films with underlying themes about the country as a whole, the government agents in this film are represented in a generally positive light, proving to be some of Ambulance's bravest characters.
Overabundance Of Vehicles
Michael Bay has an infamous love of using as many vehicles as he can in his films, especially including what is quite possible Michael Bay's most famous franchise, Transformers, which perhaps features more vehicles than any other film franchise in history. And, as is inevitable in many action films, with so many vehicles on set, a car chase inevitably will occur at some point in the movie.
Ambulance follows this trend to the very letter, and, in fact, expands on the idea, making a car chase the very plot of the film itself. Ambulance is essentially a two-hour car chase, with minor intermissions in between action set pieces. Other than Transformers, this could be the film that most glorifies Bay's love of cars.
Slow-Motion
Many directors have a penchant for including slow motion in their action scenes, and Michael Bay is no exception to this tempting trick. Though perhaps not as avid a user of this technique as directors like Zach Snyder, Bay is reliable enough to include a shot or two of slow-mo sprinkled throughout each of his films.
Ambulance features a number of slow-motion shots, each intended to heighten the dramatics of a particular action scene. Perhaps the most memorable uses of slow-motion include the film's climactic scenes in the gang hideout and in the hospital parking lot, both of which include paradigm-shattering events for the characters involved, with the audience given the chance to slow down and see the events unfold before their very eyes in excruciating detail.
Bad Dialogue
Bay certainly knows how to provide reliably fun action in his films, but other aspects of filmmaking are often overlooked in the pursuit of an exciting series of action scenes. As is the case with many of Michael Bay's action hits, the dialogue in Ambulance is not quite on the same level as the action.
The disparity between the quality of the action and the quality of the writing is most evident in the film's early scenes, where little action has yet taken place. In the lack of excitement, the writing is much more in the consciousness of the audience, and feels clunky, unnatural, and, at times, quite dumb, though its faults are made up for by Ambulance's stellar cast of stars, who sell their lines as best as they can.
Gunfire Galore
Many good action films get along quite well with little to no use of guns. This, however, would be unheard of in a Michael Bay-directed film. The director's projects often go all-out when it comes to gunfire, using as many guns and as many bullets as physically possible.
Ambulance has a particular scene in which this trademark is on clear display. When Danny and Will's heist goes awry and they are raided by the police, there is a stretch of about five minutes of screentime in which bullets are constantly being fired. As the brothers attempt to make their escape, both the criminals and the cops involved in the day's events easily eat through several hundred bullets in only a few minutes.
Helicopters
Similar to his love of including road-based vehicles in his film, Michael Bay also thoroughly enjoys throwing a helicopter or two into his action scenes. This certainly comes into play in Ambulance, as the authorities call in several aerial crafts to help them bring down the Sharp brothers.
Some of Ambulance's tensest scenes include the helicopters, as Danny and Will must find a way to escape from their ever-watchful eye. As it turns out, including helicopters also heightens tensions onset, making for some absolutely wild behind-the-scenes stories from the making of Ambulance.
Explosions!
Perhaps Michael Bay's best-known trademark is his love for explosions, which has often caused audiences to believe that he over-uses them in his films, finding any excuse he can to blow something up, especially if he can do it using practical effects.
Ambulance has a surprisingly small amount of fiery explosions for a Michael Bay film, but it is certainly not completely devoid of such a thrill. Several scenes include exploding cars amidst the chase through Los Angeles, and one climactic scene features Danny and Will's associates bombing the law enforcement on the brothers' tale in order to help them escape. Therefore, while there are few major explosions in the film, the ones that Bay does include are made to truly matter in the context of the story.