Premium Rush

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dania Ramirez, Michael Shannon, Aasif Mandvi
Directed by: David Koepp
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A New York City bike messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is hunted down by a corrupt cop (Michael Shannon) for the package he is supposed to deliver.

Review:

Tim: I was so, so close to absolutely loving Premium Rush. This is a movie that greatly surprised me by how exciting and thrilling it was. It came across as a little, easily-overlooked film, but I had so much fun watching it. I love movies that not only entertain, but cause me to have fun. Fun is an often overlooked aspect of movies. A film like Citizen Kane is tremendous, but it's not necessarily tons of fun. This film is flawed, but lots of fun.

The whole idea of basing a movie around reckless, adrenaline-junkie bike messengers in the Big Apple is a very cool concept. In Hollywood today, it often feels like everyone there is creatively bankrupt. It was terrific to see a film like this, that just felt unique. Now, I'm not suggesting bike movies are original, but there aren't dozens of movies made about bike messengers every year. It was refreshing to see something we don't usually see. I loved that aspect of the film.

The story itself was decent, but ultimately disappointing. Initially, I was very engaged in the mystery- what was in the package our hero was trying to deliver? My mind went wild with the different possibilities. When the film does tell us the contents of the package, it was quite underwhelming. My reaction to the answer was "Meh." I really wanted it to be a little bit cooler. As is, it seems a bit ridiculous that our heroes would go to such lengths (risking life and limb) to deliver the package. It was an average concept, but the movie needed something really, really cool here.

I do want to discuss my favorite aspect of the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is riding at top speed through the dangerous streets of New York, and the film slows down to show his thought process- all the different routes he can take. He visually sees each route, most of which result in major crashes or death. It was so fun (and funny) to see all the ways he could die, before choosing the one route that allowed him to slip by safetly. That was pretty unique, and it was incredibly fun to see on screen. I loved every one of those scenes.

Speaking of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is there anything this guy can't do? He is one of the most exciting young actors I have ever seen. I truly believe he has the potential to be one of the all-time greats. In this film, it's a bit of a departure from some of the bigger movies he's been doing recently. However, it was a great move- he gets to be the star of a small action thriller, and he gets to ride his bike at breakneck speeds. I really, really liked Gordon-Levitt in this film. He was likable, believable as a serious biker, and someone we could definitely root for. His character was a little bit forgettable, but his performance was top notch. I love that he approaches a film like this with as much seriousness as he does in a film like Looper or Inception. He's quite good here.

Michael Shannon is decent as the villain, but his performance was just too over-the-top for me. I've never been a fan of Shannon, and I feel like he's overrated. He was adequate here, but nothing special. The same can be said for Dania Ramirez, an average performance, which is what I expect from her. Clearly, this movie is all about Gordon-Levitt.

While I loved so much of this movie, unfortunately, the film has some huge flaws that really, really hurt it. There's just too many ridiculous scenes in this film. The whole "bike race" scene just felt so stupid. A little kid's life hangs in the balance (as well as multiple other people, technically), and Gordon-Levitt engages in a bike race with a fellow biker through Central Park? There were some cool scenes during the race, but the concept was pretty bad. Even worse was the "biker hotline", where all the bikers in New York get a distress call, only to show up and do nothing at all. It was just awful. I'm not sure how bad scenes like this ended up in the film, but they really hurt the overall quality. It was tough watching some of these ridiculous moments on screen. This was the biggest problem I had with the movie, and damaged an otherwise really strong movie.

I had so much fun watching Premium Rush. It was just a really cool movie. I loved so much of it, but I was really bothered by some of the stupid scenes and weak aspects of the story. I wish I could have rated this movie higher, but those flaws stuck with me. I couldn't forgive the story for dropping the ball in certain areas. Even still, this is a good movie, and one I'd highly recommend.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Looper, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises