An ugly approach to cinema.

The Ambulance almost immediately exceeds its intended scale, turning what should be a lean and mean retrograde high-concept hostage situation into a sprawling, geographically incomprehensible tour of one of the most gridlocked cities in the United States.

Bay still knows how to shoot movie stars like movie stars... Gyllenhaal looks hot, makes a convincing crook, and is clearly having a great time; in the early, rougher passages, his verve and manic energy almost single-handedly keeps the picture afloat.

A medical procedural as only Bay can deliver: it’s a STAT emergency surgery operation wrapped in a bank robbery, a high-speed car chase, an estranged sibling drama, and a political critique of how America mistreats its own military veterans.