Movie review: 'Ambulance' is right up your street

Although most of its explosive set pieces would be unthinkable in real life, they somehow motor its plot into the realms of possibility through the sheer force of each scene.

If you go beyond the movie’s fracturing of the laws of physics, however, you'll appreciate how the movie’s narrative power is adrenalised by sensational acting by the entire cast.

The movie starts out on otherwise normal Los Angeles day.

Well, not so normal for Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) who is an ex-Marine.

He is married with an infant son. Although he served his nation with distinction, he can’t afford to pay for his wife’s cancer treatment, a situation which calls into question why he served with distinction to begin with.

His desperation to save his wife’s life leads him down a broken road to a robbery that heists $32 million from a bank.

Left to right: Danny, Will and Cam Pulse

The lead robber is Danny (Gyllenhaal), he is Will’s brother. Okay, Will was adopted by Danny’s criminal father, something that is made abundantly clear by the dialogue, flashbacks and colour of Danny and Will’s skin.

Danny grew up as a criminal, a good one too. So, he probably has the money to help with Will’s problem.

Stopping by Danny’s place of business to ask for a loan, Will ends up signing on with Danny’s den of thieves.

That’s when the real fun begins.

In between, there’s the subplot involving Emergency Medical Technician (E.M.T.), Cam Thompson (Eiza González).

She saves the life of a young car-accident victim impaled on a piece of wrought-iron fence.

Cam has gone through the motions of saving lives in this manner so many times that she has numbed herself from the sensation which comes from the feeling of saving a life.

It is sad, but she is super hot. I am tempted to think that it is her looks and not her skills as a medic which save lives.

Anyway, later on in the movie, she will save another life by performing emergency abdominal surgery in the middle of a high-speed car chase.

All the while, exciting vertical drone shots in which the camera surges skyward before spiraling back to earth, jump out at you and keep you glued to the screen.

It all makes for impressive viewing, although the movie is so fast that you can’t sit still long enough to actually savour the histrionic depths each character brings to the movie.