Been a while, kept you waiting, huh?
Its been over 5 years now since my service has come to an end. Plenty of time to reflect, yet introspection remains fleeting as the 21st century continues to careen forward at a blistering pace. The stir of upheaval and the veil of our systems being lifted make for tumultuous times. For now, there is naught but to soldier on and do what we can for others. I live in comfort but I will never be at peace. This is the cost of living, one that I am obliged to pay in the wake of all that I have done and been a part of. I must earn this life.
I live well, but I sit with the sin. More significantly, I try to do well as others suffer great calamity. In 2021, the specters of global violence and the great rift in class inequality are known to us all in the open, though some still thrive in the denial of it. Its in our media, reality based and fictional, and there’s no going back. This tumultuous zeitgeist once more rears its head in the latest piece by the bombastic action mad genius Michael Bay. The themes and imagery in the trailer for Ambulance scream to be heard, epithets of these Roaring (20)20s.
I have always been a proponent of Michael Bay’s peculiar yet potent formula of over the top spectacle, but its his uncanny grasp of the American Id and subconscious that has put him over as more than merely a gauche cinematic technician. His movies embody the very soul of modern America, whether he intends to or not. I felt this blunt force resonance in his most recent Netflix blockbuster 6 Underground, and I sense those very same earth-shattering vibrations in the fabric of what I’m seeing so far in Ambulance. It remains to be seen if the film in total will truly commit to that fascinating thematic territory, but from a pure craft perspective this is a truly gripping trailer that will grab the attention of Bay admirers and haters alike. Let’s hope it’s worth the ride.
