User Reviews

On paper and from a financial standpoint, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that Premium Rush was made. It is a high speed action film about bike messengers delivering packages set in New York. Not saying that there is no potential for entertainment there, but it seems like it would be down the list for green-lighting compared to fighting robots and action heroes blowing half a city up. But somehow, Premium Rush was given the go-ahead, landed some quality names in Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, and the film hit theaters. Unfortunately, the thriller ended up being nothing more than a middle of the road action film that is easily forgettable.

Gordon-Levitt stars as Wilee, an energetic bike messenger that lives by the simple rules of riding like hell, only using a fixed gear/steel framed bike, and never using brakes. One afternoon he is sent to deliver an envelope by his girlfriend's roommate, Nima, but finds himself in a fight with a crooked cop (Shannon) who wants the delivery. Turns out, the envelope holds a receipt for a great deal of money that Nima trusted Wilee to deliver. It also turns out that the crooked cop is in a good deal of trouble with gambling debt and plans on stealing the receipt to pay off his problems.

So the plot is nothing great; need to make a delivery, crooked cop chasing you, can't trust the police. But what does the film have to offer? Well, Gordon-Levitt and Shannon both play their characters well, but there is not much too it. The characters are pretty one dimensional and seem more like a payday gig than a role someone really wants to take up. Perhaps they seem like better actors because Jamie Chung who plays Nima is so bad. Every line that roles out of her mouth is forced and she seems extremely uncomfortable on camera. Not only was this extremely distracting, it made everyone around her worse, specifically one scene in a bathroom between Nima and Wilee's girlfriend, Vanessa. Maybe Dania Ramirez is pretty poor throughout the film, but her scenes with Jamie Chung are particularly brutal.

To read the rest of the review (IMDb form too short) visit: http://custodianfilmcritic.com/premium-rush/

Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is an underachiever bike messenger in NYC. He has issues with his girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) who in turn is being evicted by her roommate Nima(Jamie Chung) and she is being hit on by Wilee's work mate Manny (Wolé Parks).

Wilee likes to ride and is reckless. Once we get some quick character introductions, Wilee has to pick up a message from Nima...a premium rush, and deliver it in China Town. There is a policeman (Michael Shannon) with a gambling debt that is attempting to intercept the message.

The plot is straight forward with no twists. Most of the film is bike riding. The film starts out as a flashback and then gives us flashbacks within the flashback to explain plot points. I was rather bored with the whole film, but this might have a younger audience appeal.

Parental guide: 1 F-bomb (why do they do that?), no sex or nudity.

I'll give Premium Rush a score of six because it wasn't the worst low budget (if you can call 35 million dollars low budget) action film, but let's be honest, it makes no sense whatsoever. The entire premise is that the bike messenger is trying to help a Chinese woman bring her son over here illegally and in order to do it, she had to give a bunch of money to some gangster, who in return gave her a ticket with a smiley face on it which she has to then give to another woman who will then make a phone call to China giving the okay to the people who will be smuggling the child over on a boat. HUH??? What was the purpose of the ticket? Why didn't the first gangster just pick up the phone and call the woman gangster and tell her he has the money and everything is okay. The only reason this ticket exists is so that the bike messenger can have something physical to carry while a crazy cop (played by that weirdo from Boardwalk Empire) chases him around the city for an hour and a half. Then the only way the bike messenger escapes the cop is by calling for a flash mob of bikers and if he could have done that why didn't he just do that in the first place? And I never could figure out how the other gangsters who the cop owed money to knew about the stupid ticket in the first place in order to get the cop to go and try to steal it from the bike messenger. Nothing, I mean, nothing, in this movie makes any sense whatsoever. But, if you want to see a movie about a bike messenger being chased by a crazy cop, I guess this one is as good as any.

When it comes to chase movies, we know what it is that the audience wants to see.

As critically panned as they may be, you cannot deny that films such as "Gone in 60 Seconds" or "The Fast and the Furious", even if their scripts are sub-par, get your adrenaline pumping once they peel out into a 120mph chase down a busy city street.

Some films can combine a great story along with exhilarating chase sequences such as "The Bourne Ultimatum" or "Terminator 2: Judgement Day".

This film... had neither.

When I first viewed the trailer, I knew the deal. It seemed like a film that would be lacking in story, but the bike chase sequences were what were really being sold to the audience.

I was correct in my first assumption. The story was amateur. The time flashbacks were lazy and hardly did anything to add to the story. In fact, most of the time they would completely kill the film's flow. It took too long to get into the actual plot, and even after we got to the end of the first act, when the real chase begins, we are not invested enough in the characters to stick with them.

As for the characters, it would even be too much to call them clichés. There was so little there, I do not even know if they could constitute as actual characters. The relationship between Levitt and Ramirez was paper thin at best and gave us absolutely no stakes in actually wanting these characters to either succeed or end up together.

Michael Shannon's performance was the one silver lining, injecting some fear and humor into a script that seems like a first draft. Levitt was fine, but there was not enough written for his character to showcase his talent.

Now, the chase scenes...

As I mentioned above, some films, while their story may be lacking, put the bulk of their effort into crafting impressive and exhilarating chase scenes.

Never have I seen a chase film directed with such little energy or passion.

They had no tension. The editing was not used to the film's advantage, opting for long cuts rather than quick, sharp editing. Most the the "chase" scenes involved Levitt's character merely biking at medium scene through traffic.

The scene where Levitt's character races a fellow bike messenger through a park has to have been the most lackluster and bland races I have ever seen in any film. Ever.

I am amazed at the positive reception that the film is receiving and suppose I could chalk it up to the talent involved. However, I think that makes the film that much more tragic.

David Koepp has been attached to some pretty decent projects including "Jurassic Park" and "Panic Room", but by no means is he a spectacular screenwriter.

Still, you'd think a writer who has been in the business for over twenty years would have been able to bring even a little bit of substance to his latest script.

Letting him direct may have been the mistake. The two films I mentioned above were directed by masters: Spielberg and Fincher, respectively. Looking back, neither of the scripts were incredible, but were brought to new heights life through the eyes of a great director.

Perhaps in the hands of a more experienced director, this film could have been something special given the acting talent of both Levitt and Shannon.

In the end, this film could at least have been a fun flick, but the tonal shifts and waste of talent hardly even grant this film the cost of the ticket.

Skip it. You are not missing much.

Made for maximum momentum & white-knuckle thrills. 2012's 'Premium Rush' is one entertaining popcorn flick. I like how it was all done on real streets without much CGI. Cinematographer, Mitchell Amundsen & director, David Koepp and his crew, including stunt worker, Austin Horse mostly did a hell of a job, capturing the fluidity of darting and weaving in New York traffic, to the point that we can't keep our eyes off. Nevertheless, the movie isn't a true climatic tour de force. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for classic masterpieces levels like 1948's 'Bicycle Thieves'; however, the story about an innocuous urban libertine, New Yorker bicycle messenger, Wilee (Joseph Gordon Levitt) being chased around the city by a corrupt police officer, Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon) over an envelope, the cyclist is carry; should had be a little more grounded in reality. The over the top sequences like Wilee's brain working really fast, to the point that he can slow down split-second decisions, by analyzing routes ahead of him, was really jarring. Look, I get that, he is a disenchanted Columbia Law School graduate, but adrenaline-fixes, doesn't make him, into Sherlock Holmes. If anything, all this cross modal attention will only impair the biker's visual attention and ability to make decisions, ever more; resulting more likely into a collision than safe passage. Meanwhile, seeing him crash into things like a 'Jackass', in his mind, really does take away from the thoughtful parts of the chase scene. I found myself, laughing my head off, than taking the film, seriously. The analyzing lightweight tongue 'n' cheek tone doesn't fit well with the gritty parts at all. It seem gimmicky out of place. Another problem with 'Premium Rush' is how it relies on an overlaid digital clock on the screen for the bulk of the chase, to show the time advancing from the start of the chase to the end to build tension; yet the movie laid back attitude toward key events doesn't feel like it could honest fit, between those periods of time. Are we to believe that, that Wilee was able to travel back and forth from Columbia University twice, go on detour, then walk away from a major crash, without injury and still able to have time do complex fancy BMX stunts, while escaping a well-guarded police compound, all before the 7pm!? I don't think so! So unrealistic. However, it's not the worst part of the film. That has to go to the giant bike flash mob scene. The idea that it can be formed, less than an hour, using a non-existing 'bike code' is dumb. Because, in reality, not only, would, most of them, be busy, doing deliveries; most of them are more likely to be independent contractors or work at rival companies. The idea that they would all pitch in, to harass a cop is abnormally impracticable. All of these sequences, mention, remind me of the 1983's film 'BMX Bandits', in how silly, they were. As for the way, the movie is presenting the cyclist profession as the most dangerous job in New York City. It come across as very smug and annoying like 1987's movie 'Quicksilver'. The stats, they're presenting are not true, one bit. Metro subway workers & cab drivers are more likely to get killed than a cyclist. While, it's true, that bicycling is such high demand in urban centers. Bicycle messenger is not popular. It has really fallen out of favor as a means of delivery, since the digital age. Because of that, the film seem dated, even for 2012. The concept just doesn't work. Much like the nonlinear narrative, the movie is presenting. It also fails to add any suspense; as there wasn't much, risky thought-provoking twist and turns. Obvious markers, throughout the film also kill the mystery. Because of that, the story was highly predictable. As for numerous flash-forwards and flashback. It doesn't seem to help much, as well. If anything, it really does slow the movie pace down. A good example is how the film is trying to establish that Det. Monday has a gambling problem. That montage of him, getting in trouble with the Chinese Mafia was a little too long. It really took a lot of screen-time away from the main plot. The same, can be said, with the futile flashback scenes with Wilee. The conflict with his girlfriend, Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) & his stock character, coworker, Manny (Wolé Parks) over the fact, that he lives a dangerous life; felt not needed; seeing how both of them, are, doing the same job as Wilee. It felt hypocritical. Also, its odd how never once, was there, a character arch with Wilee, being safer. The whole romance & buddy competition filler parts are just throwaways. It was disappointing. Despite that; Levitt was not that bad in this movie; even if his character is a bit shallow & stereotypic play as a cliquish, reckless, nihilist. Levitt's authentic, accessible charm make Wileee, somewhat watchable. As for the bike work. Levitt gets mad props. It's insane to hear that he needed 31 stitches on his arm, when, he accidently crash into a rear windshield of a cab at 30 mph, when performing a stunt. That was really crazy! As for Shannon's off-kilter performance. He was fine, but he could had been better. He mumble, way too much. It's really hard to hear or understand, what he's saying. It's not his best work. As for the filmmakers here, getting sued for plagiarism of author Joe Quirk's 1998's book, "The Ultimate Rush". It's clear, once you see this movie. These two media sources has nothing similar with each other. I glad, the courts, agree with me on that statement. Overall: Honestly, If you ignored the huge flaws of the film. It's still a worth pedaling after. You might find it, somewhat enjoyable, even with its faults. So, strap on your helmet, and go find this high-octane action movie. It's worth the rush.

Fifteen hundred bike couriers populate Manhattan making deliveries on a daily basis. Among them, an ex-law student Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who works for a delivery company named Security Courier finds himself more at home on a brakeless fixed-gear steel-frame bike than behind a desk doing a 9-to-5 job. For his last job for the day, Wilee picks up an extremely important package that brings him face to face with a twisted NYC cop, Detective Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon) ensuing a game of cat and mouse.

A refreshing change from big budget sequels or remakes, Premium Rush may run short on a meagre script but rides high on adrenaline. Director and co-writer, David Koepp films the scenes on the streets of NYC with a lot of in-your-face camera work, putting you in the thick of the action or in this case, the seat of the rider. Even though CGI seemed to be on a shoe-string budget, the way it is used doesn't detract us from the action but adds a nice twist to proceedings and even sometimes leading to some comical conclusions.

The bike is (literally) treated as part of the support cast and watching the film's protagonist work his way around the city was entertaining. Also the choice of not following a chronological path made unravelling the back-story a wee bit more interesting. On top of all that, the film was perfectly paced and kept distractions to a minimum which in effect kept the runtime to just 91 minutes. Typical with such films, further scrutiny of the script and screenplay leads us to some unwanted plot twists and odd dialogues but thanks to that relentless adrenaline rush, one tends to be more forgiving.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Wilee is pleasing to the eyes. With not a very demanding role, his performance was believable even though quite a few scenes involved a stunt double. Dania Ramirez as Vanessa was by far the weakest performance I've seen by a female lead for a very long time. Wole Parks as Manny was a waste of screen time while Aasif Mandvi as Raj played his role quite decently.

Jamie Chung as Nima was impressive thanks to the authentic feel she had, especially with what sounded like a proper accent. Her subdued performance blended well with what her character was about. Michael Shannon as Bobby Monday was the pick of the actors. His over the top impulsive antics as a desperate cop were fantastic and he embodied the character to perfection. Christopher Place as the bike cop was extremely entertaining.

Manhattan in the film is seen in a way one doesn't see often. There was no glitz or glamour, nor the usual crops of landmarks littered around the city, and one wasn't overwhelmed with gritty dark alleys either. That difference and simplicity of the point of view was nice to see for once. The film may not have a jaw-dropping effect on you but that's why you should watch it. It reminds us that good films can be made out of a simple concept.