Review of Ambulance (2022) by Jamess — 26 May 2022
AmbuLAnce is perhaps the most Michael Bayist Michael Bay movie I can recall. The first scene of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II talking on the phone to an insurance company had twenty cuts over the course of sixty seconds.
I counted. That averages to an edit every three seconds. For a phone conversation. Bay's editing style works in a tense scene mid movie with an operation taking place in a moving vehicle, but Bay uses that editing style for EVERY SINGLE SCENE.
It's enough to give the viewer ADD. On top of that, Bay has discovered drones. So we are treated to soaring camera angles, sweeping and gliding like a bird on crack, not once or twice but over and over and over until it's no longer a visual treat but a tiresome device.
There's Bay's trademark "magic hour" lighting that appears to be taking place just before sundown. But it appears throughout the hours of the day that the events take place. Many directors have come from commercials and advertising from Ridley and Tony Scott onward, using visuals and editing to great effect.
Bay though seems to film as if the entire movie was a series of sixty second commercials stitched together. And if Bay's direction is cranked to eleven, Jake Gyllenhaal' s performance is cranked to twelve.
At least he knew what type of movie he was appearing.
This review of Ambulance (2022) was written by Jamess on 26 May 2022.
Ambulance has generally received mixed reviews.
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