Movie reviews: 'Ambulance' keeps the foot on the gas in true Michael Bay fashion

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal in a scene from "Ambulance." (Andrew Cooper/Universal Pictures via AP)

AMBULANCE: 3 STARS

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in a scene from "Ambulance." (Universal Pictures via AP)

"Transformers" director Michael Bay’s movies are so distinctive the internet has coined a new term to describe his pedal-to-the-metal action style: Bayhem. His latest, the chase flick “Ambulance,” starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jake Gyllenhaal, and now playing in theatres, falls in line. It keeps the foot on the gas in true Bayhem fashion.

Decorated veteran Will (Abdul-Mateen II) is desperate for money. His wife needs surgery, but the coffers are dry. To raise the cash, he reluctantly asks his adoptive brother and career criminal Danny (Gyllenhaal) if he can help.

Turns out Danny can help, if Will is willing to bend the rules to get the money.

A lot of money.

Danny is planning a bank heist with an estimated bounty of US$32 million. “I need an extra man,” Danny says. Will isn’t sure, but Danny is persuasive. “Have I ever gotten you in anything that I couldn’t get you out of?”

The bank heist goes off without a hitch, but the getaway is rough. With things falling apart, they hijack an ambulance. Trouble is, the ambulance is transporting a wounded policeman (Jackson White) and a paramedic (Eiza González). With police in hot pursuit, they take the ambulance on a high-speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles. “We’re not the bad guys,” Danny says. “We’re just trying to get home.”

The stakes are life and death. Cue the Bayhem.

“Ambulance” isn’t a heist movie. Bay milks excitement out of the setup and execution of the sequence, but this is a getaway flick with an interesting family dynamic between Danny and Will.

Gyllenhaal’s performance as the charismatic, sociopath older brother is as amped up as the movie itself, which is to say it’s pedal-to-the-metal all the way.

Bay’s relentless camera is in constant motion. It zooms, caresses the actor’s faces in extreme closeups, flies up and down the sides of buildings, and, of course, cruises alongside the ambulance as it careens through the streets of Los Angeles. The camera work and the editing are so fast it’s as though Bay has his finger on the fast forward button the entire time.

If you get motion sickness, you might want to take some Gravol along with your popcorn.

If “Ambulance” was music, it would be a Yngwie Malmsteen guitar solo. Fast and heavy, it bowls you over with technical skill, but doesn’t engage much more than that. There’s no sense of pacing, it’s all forward momentum. As Danny and Will say several times, “We’re a locomotive. We don’t stop,” but occasionally tapping the brake might give the viewers and the actors a chance to catch a collective breath.

“Ambulance” is raw, unadulterated Bayhem. From the frenetic editing to the characters, who all speak like they are in a Michael Bay action movie, and the anxiety inducing soundtrack, it is frantic Bayhem with all the good and bad that implies.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2: 3 STARS

This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Jim Carrey in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." (Paramount Pictures via AP)

Bright blue extraterrestrial hedgehog Sonic comes bounding back into theatres with the imaginatively titled “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” a Sega sequel to the highest-grossing video game movie of all time.

At the beginning of the flick, Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz), a hedgehog whose lightning-fast reflexes and ability to run faster than the speed of sound, have helped him save the world on numerous occasions, is living with his adopted “parents,” Montana police officer Tom (James Marsden) and his veterinarian wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter).

When Tom and Maddie go on a Hawaiian vacation, Sonic is left to his own devices. That opens the door for the hedgehog’s nemesis, baddie Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to return with anteater sidekick Knuckles (voice of Idris Elba). Robotnik is still sore from his exile on a remote planet, but has returned with a thirst to exact revenge on the spiny blue mammal who put him there and a plan to take over the world.

“Since I’ve been gone,” he says, “I’ve discovered the source of ultimate power.”

That power stems from a mystical emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations. To save the world, Sonic teams with Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey), a yellow fox with two tails who appears through a magic portal.

Sonic’s plan to make sure Robotnik doesn’t destroy the world? “Step one, light taunting,” he says. “Step two? I have no idea.”

Plan or no plan, Sonic’s tenacity could save the day.

“You’re unskilled, untrained, unworthy,” says Knuckles.

“You forgot one,” Sonic replies. “Unstoppable.”

Story wise, “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is about as imaginative as its title. A standard, save-the-world video game story with an unusual amount of CGI, it doesn’t pave any new paths forward, but fun performances—both live and CGI—keep things buoyant for most of the slightly too long two-hour running time.

Sonic is the star, the heart and soul of the franchise, but it is Jim Carrey who steals the show with a performance that goes over-the-top in search of a new top. It’s big cartoony work that brings an organic touch to an overload of computer-generated animation.

More understated, but just by a hair, is Natasha Rothwell as Maddie’s sister Rachel. She brings the funny and brings some respite to the non-stop blur of action.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is a family film for video game fans, comprised of a series of big, loud set pieces banged together to entertain the eye while sprouting messages of the importance of family and teamwork.

MINAMATA: 3 STARS

Johnny Depp in the movie 'Minamata.' (Photo courtesy Samuel Goldwyn Films)

“Minamata” is a mix-and-match of a few different things. The story of celebrated “Life” photojournalist W. Eugene Smith as he documented the effects of toxic mercury poisoning in Japan is part biopic and part exposé of corporate malfeasance, with just a hint of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” thrown in for colour.

The story begins in 1971 in New York. Smith (Johnny Depp) is at the tail end of a legendary career. His reclusive and erratic behaviour has eroded his relationship with “Life” editor Robert Hayes (Bill Nighy) and years spent as a Second World War photographer haunt his memory.

Aileen (Minami), a translator for Fujifilm, suggests he go to Japan to witness and document the effects of mercury pollution in the city of Minamata. For more than a decade, the locals have suffered a neurological disease caused by mercury poisoning, the result of toxic waste dumped into Minamata Bay by the Chisso chemical plant. Aileen wants the eyes of the world to focus on the problem.

The gruff Smith is initially reluctant, but his growing fondness for Aileen, an assignment from “Life,” and his own sense of journalistic integrity change his mind. The resulting trip and story transforms both Smith and the perception of the situation in Minamata.

The long delayed “Minamata”—it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020—is an uneven film anchored by a rock-solid performance from Johnny Depp. He humanizes the curt Smith, milking out a redemption arc for the character as he atones for past transgressions by applying his craft to make the world a better place for the people of Minamata. His torment is made clear in a speech about the old belief that a photograph steals the soul of its subject. “What gets left out of the fine print,” he says, “is that it can also take a piece of the photographer’s soul.”

It’s mature work, without a trace of Captain Jack Sparrow. A flash of Hunter S. Thompson peaks through in Smith’s abuse of methamphetamine, alcohol and general disregard for the niceties of being respectful to one’s editor, but overall, Depp digs deep and brings a rough-hewn mix of charm and compassion.

Depp shines in a movie that travels a well-worn path. Stories of activism versus corporate malfeasance tend to follow a similar trajectory, and “Minamata” is no different. It hits familiar beats of corporate callousness, but offers something new in the stunning recreations of Smith’s photos, specifically “Tomoko in her Bath,” the most famous picture from the portfolio.

“Minamata” takes liberties with historical timelines, but this isn’t a documentary, it is a dramatic recreation of Smith’s call to arms, and as such, delivers a compelling, if familiar, story.