Rated
PG-13 (Some Violence, Intense Action Sequences and Language)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 31 Minutes
Cast-
Joseph
Gordon-Levitt-Wilee
Michael
Shannon-NYPD Detective Bobby Monday
Dania
Ramirez-Vanessa
Jamie
Chung-Nima
Aasif
Mandvi-Raj
Wolé
Parks-Manny
Henry
O-Mr. Leung
Kin
Shing Wong-The Sudoku Man
Directed
by David Koepp
 |
| Joseph Gordon-Levitt feels the rush...in bicycle thriller "Premium Rush"! |
I
have a confession to make: I do not
know how to ride a bike but watching "Premium Rush" sure made me wish
I knew how. The end of August has always been a dumping ground for shoddy films
with low box office prospects and this year is no different ("The
Apparition," anyone?) but "Premium Rush" proved to be a pleasant
surprise despite its silly premise involving…bike messengers. Normally, I would write off a film like this but
when you have a cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, you stand up and take notice. Shannon's
received plenty of accolades for his roles on HBO's "Boardwalk
Empire," 2008's "Revolutionary Road," and last year's
drama-thriller "Take Shelter" while Levitt has come a long way since
his days as a child actor where he appeared in films like 1994's "Angels
in the Outfield" before breaking out in 1999's "10 Things I Hate
About You," which also starred a young Heath Ledger. The last three years has seen Levitt's
popularity soar to new heights thanks to a number of critically-acclaimed roles
in "(500) Days of Summer," "Inception," "50/50,"
and this year's "The Dark Knight Rises," the long-awaited conclusion
to Christopher Nolan's "Batman" saga. When stacked up against those
films, "Premium Rush" pales in comparison but Levitt and Shannon's presence
elevates the inherently cheesy material, turning this late-summer action
thriller from director David Koepp into an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride
despite a problematic script that gets bogged down by clunky exposition and an
uneven tone.
A Columbia law school drop-out who now works as a New York City
bike messenger for Security Courier,
Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) enjoys living in the moment as he speeds his way
through a treacherous metropolis with no brakes and fixed gears, delivering
packages and letters for $30 apiece when services like UPS and FedEx just
aren't fast enough. His ex-girlfriend and fellow messenger Vanessa (Dania
Ramirez) finds him needlessly reckless yet greatly admires his skill. Riding
back to Security Courier's main
office after a drop-off, Wilee learns from his supervisor Raj (Aasif Mandvi)
that rival courier Manny (Wolé Parks) has stolen his last package of the day
from under him but luckily, a call comes in requesting an urgent pick-up at
Wilee's 'alma mater' at Columbia University. Wilee arrives at 116th Street and
is handed a small envelope from Nima (Jamie Chung), who happens to be Vanessa's
roommate. Nima insists that the letter must reach its destination in Chinatown
by 7 PM and be given only to a 'Sister Chen.' However, this seemingly routine
delivery turns into a life-and-death situation as corrupt NYPD detective Bobby
Monday (Michael Shannon) desperately seeks the letter for unknown purposes and
will do whatever it takes to force Wilee to give it up, including threatening
Vanessa.
"Premium Rush" is the type of genre film that Hollywood
should always strive to make. Written by David Koepp and John Kamps, the script
is definitely on the thin-side so in order to pad out the running time to 91
minutes, there are a number of flashbacks revealing just what exactly is in the
envelope that Wilee's carrying and why a detective like Bobby Monday would go
to such extreme lengths to acquire it but these scenes of exposition are poorly
placed, doing more harm than good by pulling you out of the narrative. The plot
also suffers from a number of contrived coincidences such as Vanessa happening
to be Nima's roommate or Wiley having his last delivery stolen from his
obnoxious rival Manny. The uneven tone swings from eye-rolling earnestness to
winking nods to its ridiculous premise, punctuated by some bouts of dark
violence. Despite these glaring flaws, Koepp manages to turn "Premium
Rush" into a solid action thriller by creating a 'you are there' feeling
in all its chase scenes. The camera zips and zooms around Manhattan while Wilee
uses his GPS to map out the best routes, presented as a slick 3D overlay. The brash
bike messenger even has what Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net calls a 'cyclist-sense'
that allows him to foresee all possible routes and choose the best one, leading
to some hilarious what-if scenarios where Wilee crashes into a baby stroller or
gets run over by a speeding car. Using a blend of real-world stunts and some
obvious CG, the bike chases provide a visceral rush as Wilee and his fellow
couriers navigate the chaotic and even deadly concrete jungle of New York City,
narrowly avoiding careless taxi drivers and pedestrians. These wildly
entertaining scenes, combined with the absurd use of Wilee's split-second
decision-making skills, make "Premium Rush" a fun ride at the
theater.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorite actors and while this isn't
a particularly involving role compared to "(500) Days of Summer" or
"50/50," he still manages to ground the film with an innate
likability and charm despite Wilee having a complete disregard for his life.
Michael Shannon is another impressive actor but here he goes way over-the-top, sporting a 'New Yawk'
accent as the despicable Bobby Monday. He may come off as a big caricature but
there's no denying that his scenery-chewing performance adds to the fun of the
film. Dania Ramirez is underwritten as Wilee's ex-girlfriend Vanessa but she's
convincingly tough and even has a few one-liners up her tank top like 'This is
the most fun I've had with my clothes on!' but Jamie Chung is completely
miscast as Nima, speaking in a broken English accent that is borderline
offensive. Once again, Hollywood displays its usual ignorance about Asians by
having Chung enunciate Mandarin even though she's Korean!
"Premium Rush" was released on August 24, 2012 to
largely positive reviews with 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that it was
'built out of familiar parts, but no matter how formulaic [the film's]
storyline might seem, it's elevated by high-octane action and enjoyable
performances.' There was an advance screening for this film last Thursday but I
elected to see "The Apparition" instead since I didn't want to fork
out $13.50 for what I knew was going
to be terrible. Unfortunately, "Premium Rush" flopped at the box
office, coming in at eighth place with a paltry $6.3 million and it's unlikely
to make back its modest production budget of $35 million. Originally, it was
set to be released back in January but Columbia Pictures/Sony elected to push
it back to August to capitalize on Levitt's supporting role in "The Dark
Knight Rises." Late-summer releases are rarely good so it's a real surprise
when a film like "Premium Rush" comes along. Sure, its plot may be
formulaic and even has a few lapses in logic but this is genre-filmmaking at
its best and "Premium Rush" proves to be an exhilarating action
thriller that ends summer 2012 on a high enough note.
Final
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
"You
got involved with some people with real problems, life and death. If you don't
give over that envelope, you have no idea what's coming for you!"
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