Ambulance

In what is unmistakably director Michael Bay’s most narratively and visually coherent film since Pain and Gain, Ambulance is about two brothers, a bank robbery, a wounded police officer, a hot medic and one excruciatingly long car chase.

Debuting in Pakistan and a few other countries way before its American release, the film — written by Chris Fedak — is an adaptation of a 2005 Danish film of the same name written by Laurits Munch-Petersen (also the director) and Lars Andreas Pedersen.

In Bay’s version, Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a war veteran who is mistreated and ignored by the American medi-care support system, is in desperate need of 231,000 dollars for his wife’s life-saving surgery. Will goes to his brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), a sharp, and slightly bonkers man with a plan. And the plan is this: since Will is an ace driver with combat experience, the two, along with a few other eccentrics, pull off a 32-million-dollar bank heist.

It was supposed to be a smooth operation… but then again, this is a Michael Bay film… so, you know: chaos.

Ambulance is pumped-up, raucous, but also subtle for a Michael Bay film, while The Bubble is a funny Judd Apatow take on Hollywood and the pandemic

Surprisingly, given that the film holds on to every element trademark of Bay, this is a well-controlled production. The story, although exorbitant at times, takes a very linear tone that’s not beholden to many subplots that might trigger Bay’s ADHD (attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder — a common neuro-developmental disorder in growing children). The editing and the cinematography, despite cutting blazingly fast, don’t shake up one’s senses. Most of what is on screen reminds me of early collaborations between Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, such as Bad Boys, The Rock and Armageddon — albeit far less exciting in comparison.

Gyllenhaal, a man who cannot overact no matter how wonky Bay wants his character to be, is a perfect fit for the role, as are Mateen and Eiza Gonzalez, who plays the medic in the ambulance the brothers are forced to flee in.

Ambulance is a guilty pleasure. Pumped-up, roaring, raucous, but also subtle (in comparison to Bay’s film), but not deep.

Released by Universal, Ambulance is rated R, mostly for blood, death and a lot of property damage

The Bubble

Surprisingly effective, The Bubble — a biting, real-life parody of film production in Hollywood during the first year of the pandemic — affirms Judd Apatow’s knack for comedy timing.

In the film, which is about the making of a film titled Cliff Beasts 6: Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requiem (obviously, the sixth of a series of a fictitious film series), an actress named Carol Cobb (Karen Gillan) returns to a role she was best known for in four of the previous five movies of the franchise (she skipped part four to do another over-the-top film about Palestinian-Israeli friendship in the midst of an alien attack).

With her career in decline, Cobb has no choice but to accept Cliff Beasts 6, and so ends up with her long-time co-acting associates played by Keegan-Michael Key (an action hero who created a new religion to scam people), Leslie Mann and David Duchovny (a husband-and-wife duo who can’t get along). Co-joining them are Pedro Pascal, Guz Khan and Iris Apatow — cliché wise, a villain of Spanish origin with a put-on accent, a comedic relief and a rising TikTok star who was put in the film to popularise the franchise with the TikTok generation.

Fred Armisen plays the Sundance-winning director, Peter Serafinowicz the producer, Galen Hopper the daughter of a stunt coordinator, with Maria Bakalova, Vir Das and Samson Kayo rounding-off the cast as the staff in the palatial hotel the actors are ‘bubbled’ in (Bubble is the protective term used for precautionary Covid-19 isolation in the film).

The film also has cameos galore, from Kate McKinnon, John Cena, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Lithgow, Daisey Ridley, James McAvoy and American musician and singer Beck.

Beneath its parodic nature of both the pandemic and productions in Hollywood, The Bubble is an all-too-real account of how screwed up Hollywood can be. The film, however kooky, is not excessive — and it’s quite funny (especially of note is Guz Khan’s sequence where he loses it).

While this is not the greatest film made about the pandemic or the Hollywood industry, it’s still a swell way to waste a night with.

Streaming on Netflix, The Bubble is rated suitable for ages 18 and over for scenes of sex and drug-taking

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 10th, 2022