Movie review
March 16, 2022 · 136 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Ambulance.
Woke representation / casting
Visible diversity with a Black actor as the veteran lead and a Latina actress as the skilled female EMT in a Los Angeles setting. Casting aligns with story logic and location without apparent identity signaling or mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Limited references to veteran healthcare struggles and insurance issues, presented as personal motivation rather than ideological statements or lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Core narrative revolves around brotherly loyalty, crime, and family survival with no race, gender, or identity-focused plotlines.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Brief portrayal of bureaucratic and insurance failures affecting a veteran, echoing real-world concerns but framed personally without modern activist or systemic identity critiques like patriarchy or colonialism.
Review
Ambulance is a 2022 action thriller directed by Michael Bay. It follows two adoptive brothers—a decorated Afghanistan veteran and a career criminal—who pull off a huge Los Angeles bank heist to pay for the veteran’s wife’s critical surgery. When the robbery goes wrong, they hijack an ambulance with a paramedic and a wounded police officer inside and race through the city in a nonstop chase. The story focuses on family loyalty, brotherly conflict, and high-stakes survival. A secondary thread shows the veteran struggling with medical bills and insurance, presented as personal motivation rather than any activist message. No identity-driven themes, lectures, or representation-first framing stand out in the narrative, marketing, or reception.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No notable public complaints accusing the film of pushing woke, DEI, or identity politics messaging.
Creator track record context
Key creatives including Michael Bay and supporting producers have histories in commercial action films with minimal evidence of activist or representation-driven patterns.
Production
