This week, pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews new movies: 'Ambulance,' 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' and 'Minamata.'
"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.
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. At the beginning of the flick, Sonic , 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 and his veterinarian wife Maddie .
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. The story begins in 1971 in New York. Smith is at the tail end of a legendary career. His reclusive and erratic behaviour has eroded his relationship with “Life” editor Robert Hayes and years spent as a Second World War photographer haunt his memory.
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.
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