Premium Rush: Grade- B+

Starring: Joseph Gordon Levitt (Inception, 500 Days of Summer), Dania Ramirez (Heroes), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)
Directed By: David Koepp (Ghost Town, Secret Window)
Release Date: August 24, 2012
Opening Weekend: $6,300,000
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1Hr 31Min
Synopsis: Young bike messenger unknowingly gets caught up in complex web of money and power when he tries to make seemingly routine package delivery downtown.

So How Was It?: Premium Rush is exactly what its trailer promises it to be. It's fast. It's thrilling. It's suspenseful. You're not seeing it for character development (of which there is a minimal amount of) or some complex plot. You're seeing it because you want to have a bit of fun watching some crazy bike riding stunts. (And boy does Premium Rush deliver on that.) The best part? It manages to be quite witty and funny on top of it all.

All you need to know is that its a decent film. The acting is good. The premise is interesting. Even if its not an especially memorable movie, it still warrants interest in seeing.

Dania Ramirez narrowly avoids a collision.

Acting Wise: Best job: Michael Shannon's gleefully corrupt Officer Bobby Monday. Shannon's performance is a  joy to watch. Definitely one of the most entertaining film villains in a while.

Joseph Gordon Levitt is charmingly better than his character's description requires him to be.

Technically: The film uses a lot of stylistic special effects (i.e. mapping out the potential disasterous routes the messengers can take through the traffic); perhaps one time too many. All in all though, they add to the fun, quirky nature of the film.

There is a lot of really breathtaking stunt work going on as well. I actually saw a few of the bike riding sequences in person when they were being filmed last spring in front of my old Midtown apartment. Seeing how time consuming it was just to get a simple shot of Levitt's stunt double weaving through the staged traffic really makes one appreciate some of the more complex stunt sequences.

Joseph Gordon Levitt as the skilled bike messenger Wilee.

Best Scene: Any scene involving Wilee (Joseph Gordon Levitt) and the poor bicycle cop that keeps trying to catch him. Hilarious every time. 

Editorial Commentary: Although I'm not a bike messenger, I do ride a bike in NYC. Let's just say I wish there were people as good looking as Joseph Gordon Levitt and Dania Ramirez riding in the bike lane beside me (looking at you, delivery boy riding in the wrong direction). Also, yes the roads actually are as dangerous as the film portrays them to be. I'm no stunt woman but I've had my fare share of close calls and dodged bullets.

Levitt with Michael Shannon's corrupt Officer Bobby Monday.

To See or Not to See?: If you have the money to spare then yes, go see it in theaters. If not, wait for it to come out on dvd. Either way its a fun time.




Watch the Trailer:

WARNING:  SPOILERS

For Those Who Saw It: Was it just me or did Officer Monday's fate at the end seem especially dark considering the rest of the film's considerably lighter tone? Also, the massive crowd of bike messengers coming to Wilee's rescue? Felt oddly cheesy and overly dramatic....