This is one of those rare late summer releases that comes out of nowhere and entertains you way more than you could have expected. There's no pretense here. No delusions of grandeur. No misguided Academy aspirations. Premium Rush is a film that recognizes the boundaries of its skin and is completely comfortable in it.
It's simply a fun, fast, and intense minute ride that's equal parts tension and comic relief. Rather than potentially spoil any of the details, I'll let you watch the finer points of the plot unravel on screen. Multiple back-stories are told via time flashbacks, so some of the events might get lost in the translation if you're not paying close attention. What you need to know is that the essence of the film rests in following Joseph Gordon-Levitt's bike journey through the streets of Manhattan as he attempts to deliver his envelope with a scene-stealing Michael Shannon and an I-take-my-job-way-too-seriously bike cop hot on his tail.
You'll recoil and cringe as JGL weaves in and out of traffic, avoiding vehicles and pedestrians alike. You'll laugh as the aforementioned bike cop continually regroups and continues his quest. And you'll love to hate Mr. Shannon as he deftly demonstrates his character's impulse control issues. I've always heard people say how good of an actor Michael Shannon is, but I've never really seen him in anything. I will definitely seek out more of his work after enjoying his performance in Premium Rush.
His hypocritical diatribe on how disgusted he is by the lowering of today's standards had me laughing several minutes after he delivered it. I loved this guy! I also enjoyed what I am branding the "alternate scenario cam" — whenever JGL finds himself in a tight situation, the camera shows him quickly calculating his possible routes and their potential outcomes, many of which end in hilarity and disaster for either Mr.
Gordon-Levitt or an unsuspecting pedestrian. Premium Rush keeps the pace tight and the audience engaged. The camera work forces us right in the middle of the traffic and the blaring car horns, allowing us to experience the tension both visibly and audibly. The film's main drawback is its abundance of profanity and crass talk. Premium Rush never takes itself too seriously, and neither should you.
As long as you check your expectations at the theater door then I'm confident the majority of you will find that this film — much like its bike messenger protagonist- delivers. TheMovieMark Aug 24, FAQ 4. Rated PG for some violence, intense action sequences and language.
Daniela Ramirez as Vanessa. Michael Shannon as Bobby. Wole Parks as Manny. Jamie Chung as Nima. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Wilee. Lauren Ashley Carter as Phoebe. Reviews A breakneck chase movie on bicycles. Roger Ebert August 22, Now streaming on:. Powered by JustWatch. It is primarily fun, in a way that makes you feel glad rather than vaguely guilty that you went and had it.
And it's thrillingly brief: 91 minutes, over and done. That kind of concision sometimes seems to be a lost art in contemporary filmmaking, and do I sometimes give movies points just for not wasting too much of my life on a padded running time? But it's a good thing for this kind of ultimately frivolous, fizzy entertainment: stick around for just long enough to be entertaining, and stop before bloat sets in.
The same way you're supposed to eat candy, really, which is exactly what movies like this are: tasty, well-crafted, empty calories. In point of fact, even at 91 minutes, Premium Rush suffers from some bloat, but it's not because the film takes to long, but that it makes some mistakes about what to do with its plot.
Herein, we have a relative simple situation: legendary bike messenger Wilee Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been sent to A Prestigious Law School On The Upper West Side for all that the film has a raging hard-on for New York geography, the word "Columbia" is conspicuous for its absence to pick up an extremely sensitive envelope and deliver it to a woman in Chinatown. Before he's able to get off campus, he's approached by an extremely dubious man in a suit, claiming to be a university employee, but is in fact dirty NYPD cop Bobby Monday Michael Shannon , who wants the envelope.
We don't really need more than that. The film itself knows this, for it takes great pains to demonstrate that Wilee's name is an affectation based on Wile E. Coyote, the star of several Looney Tunes shorts in which there is no trace of a plot beyond "one character wants to catch another, and fails" and a dumb affectation it is, too: nobody seems to notice, within the movie, that the coyote in question is noted primarily for being crushed to a pulp by high-speed collisions with rocks, trucks, and the ground.
All that Premium Rush requires, and certainly all that it promises, is a film-length chase between the clever, dextrous Wilee, and the increasingly frustrated, wholly inept Monday.
This, at any rate, is the way that Gordon-Levitt and Shannon play their characters - Shannon in particular, whose spittle-flecked, miles-over-the-top bad guy turn that's just one "You meddling kids!
And, too be fair, a lot of the movie consists of absolutely nothing beyond that: high-profile blockbuster writer David Koepp, playing director this time around, understands what we're here for, and he and his stunt people have put together some extraordinarily fine bike chases, laced with gallows humor Wilee has a knack for visualising the possible outcome for all moves he might make, which typically involve him being walloped by cars and thrown in the air like a dummy , and pepped up with ebullient scene transitions that imagine Manhattan as a model of the kind you might make for a school project; and most of it's practical stuntwork, too, a soppy love-letter to the days when filmmakers were limited by what was actually possible, and had to do what was actually possible in the most complex, convincing way to make their action movies there's even an end-credits cookie with Gordon-Levitt, blood pouring from his arm, that's as much a "See?
We actually did this! His latest job is a long run to Columbia University to pick up an envelope which Bobby Michael Shannon has a more than healthy interest in. After Wilee reads him the union rules about not surrendering packages, Bobby tries to run him down but Wilee escapes. Soon after, Wilee as a concerned citizen goes to report Bobby.
With two arguably overqualified actors in the leads, "Premium Rush" has a set-up to die for with its promise of a game of cat and mouse in real time with the filmmakers using Manhattan as their own personal playground to the hilt.
While they do get turned around at one point and Wilee requires directions more than absolutely necessary, the chase sequences are definitely exciting and flashy without violating the laws of physics. However, it is one thing to give Wilee a totally unecessary backstory; it is much worse for the movie to twist itself into knots over the Maguffin, even bringing things to a halt a couple of times.
And I am not exactly buying the ending either. Walter M Super Reviewer. Feb 17, When I saw it at the library I thought Why not? It's free sooo after watching it I thought it was just going to be a movie about bike messengers chasing each other through the streets of NY while being chased by the police but it was way better than that.
Brody M Super Reviewer. Aug 08, Now this is how to make an action flick! A small one, mind you, but it's one of the most fun pictures to come out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a bicycle messenger in Manhattan who lands the unfortunate job of delivering a small slip of paper worth a ton of money.
Corrupt cop Michael Shannon, trying to pay off a Chinatown gambling debt, gets wind of the item and attempts to relieve JGL of it. Unfortunately for Shannon, JGL is a pretty darn fast rider and great with stunts, and soon he has the help of his girlfriend Dania Ramirez , who is also a bicycle messenger. It's just a simple chase movie, but it's perfectly edited and paced, with well-timed jumps back in time to explain the situation.
This is the perfect place for his style of menace. Well worth your time. Bruce B Super Reviewer. See all Audience reviews. There are no approved quotes yet for this movie. Best Horror Movies. Worst Superhero Movies. Best Netflix Series and Shows. Go back. More trailers. Dexter: New Blood: Season 1. The Shrink Next Door: Season 1.
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