Blu Tuesday: “Ambulance” and More

Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.

Pick of the Week: “Ambulance”

Michael Bay is a pretty contentious director, and for good reason. Though he clearly has a unique visual style, his movies tend to be marred by poor scripts, hammy acting and, in the case of his latest film, what can only be described as too much of a good thing. “Ambulance” looks like it cost a heck of a lot more than its reported $40 million budget — it’s slick and glossy and everything you’d expect from a Bay film — but the maddening camera movement (a combination of guerrilla-style closeups and flyby drone shots) becomes overwhelming after a while. It’s noisy and chaotic, and although that fast-paced energy helps propel the movie through its unnecessarily long runtime, it also grows tiresome to watch what is essentially the same car chase over and over again. Stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González do just enough to hold your interest, but unless you’re a Bay apologist, chances are you won’t be overly charmed by his latest effort.

Extras include a collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes. FINAL VERDICT: RENT

Also Out This Week:

“Morbius” — You’d think that after working with Marvel on the latest Spider-Man trilogy, Sony would have learned a thing or two about making a good comic book movie. But if “Morbius” is any indication, the studio hasn’t learned a damn thing. At least the “Venom” films are bad in a fun sort of way; “Morbius” is just plain bad, and it doesn’t try very hard to hide it. From the lousy script to the rushed pacing to the bland action, “Morbius” feels like it was made in the early 2000s, back when Hollywood was still trying to figure out this whole superhero thing. Though Jared Leto is certainly an inspired choice to play Marvel’s “living vampire,” that casting would have been better served in a future Spider-Man movie instead of this toothless bore. Extras include a behind-the-scenes look at making the film and some outtakes. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

“Father Stu” — The story of boxer-turned-Catholic priest Stuart Long has been a passion project for Mark Wahlberg for years. Originally announced in 2016 as a potential collaboration between Wahlberg and David O. Russell, “Father Stu” has been downgraded considerably in the years since, with Rosalind Ross (perhaps best known as Mel Gibson’s girlfriend) taking over as the film’s sole credited writer and director. Though Ross doesn’t completely embarrass herself with her first-ever directing gig (even if the whole thing reeks of nepotism), her inexperience shines through in this predictable and formulaic faith-based drama. Wahlberg works overtime to keep “Father Stu” on track, but while his dedication to the story and its real-life subject is plain to see, it’s not enough to compensate for the film’s general blandness. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and some deleted scenes. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.