Review: In Michael Bay's 'Ambulance,' a gonzo L.A. romp

In the sirens of Michael Bay's “Ambulance,” you can probably hear the echoes of other movies

Of all the many things that go fast in Michael Bay's pedal-to-the-metal retro action thriller “Ambulance” — the speeding EMS van, the army of police cars trailing it, Bay's ever-swooping, whooshing camera — nothing goes by in more of a blur than the exposition.

Here is Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen), a former Marine, on a frustrating phone call trying to get insurance approval for his wife's lifesaving surgery. He's getting nowhere so, with a kiss for his wife (Moses Ingram) and toddler son, Will rushes across town — this is Los Angeles — to meet his brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal). They haven't seen each other for some time but brief flashbacks to their childhood suggest a deep bond. Will tells him he needs money. Danny says he has a job, but Will would need to come with him now, this instant, to steal $32 million from a federal bank. Are you in? Well, are you?

Will goes from hold music to heist in under an hour — about the opening five minutes of Bay's 136-minute film — and “Ambulance" doesn't slow down from there. The robbery fails to go according to its hurried and haphazard plan, and, like in Michael Mann's “Heat,” a bank-job-gone-wrong spills out onto downtown Los Angeles streets. In the melee, Danny and Will scurry through the sprawling building and its subterranean parking garage with a cop (Jackson White) as hostage. In a struggle, Will reluctantly shoots him. Seemingly boxed in with squad cars descending all around, they sneak through by stealing the ambulance that has just picked up the very same policeman. With a steely and highly professional EMT (Eiza González) in the back tending to his wounds, the brothers flee through Los Angeles in a daylong chase.

In the sirens of “Ambulance,” you can probably already hear the echoes of other movies. "Speed" and “Diehard” are just a few lanes over from Bay's film, which opens in theaters Friday, and so are some of the director's own movies. “Bad Boys” and “The Rock" both get callbacks early on. It's a little like a '90s movie spirit is being resurrected. Bring forth the propulsive excesses of yesteryear!