MOVIE REVIEW: PREMIUM RUSH

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt anyone? I always say a resounding yes. As a huge fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I was very excited for a new movie, not so much for an action movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Wiley, a bike messenger in NYC. He gets a package that he must deliver and it gets him into trouble with an Asian woman, and a corrupted police officer, played by Michael Shannon. From the beginning, I had a hard time believing him as the villain because he was too over the top, too sleazy, too everything for me to be anything but annoyed by him. I haven’t seen enough action movies to appreciate the parody that I feel the character was intended to be.

The interesting part to this movie for me was the way that they really made cycling interesting. I couldn’t get myself into the idea of bikes being a cool action movie, but the movie got me from the very beginning. They used a lot of special effects to show different routes that Wiley could take while biking in the city, and different outcomes, like getting hit by a car, running over a baby stroller, etc.
I don’t want to give away too much of what happens in the story, so I will keep this review pretty general. The other supporting characters really didn’t stand out to me too much. His love interest, Vanessa was played by Dania Ramirez was harmless, but had no lasting impact on me as a character. The jerk, played by Wolé Parks is a nice person to look at, but again, nothing overwhelmingly wonderful.
I have no real complaints about the storyline or the plot. I think that it is kept simple and interesting enough for an action movie. I actually think that the motivation behind the delivery, which I won’t reveal, enhances the movie. In general, the story is believable, interesting and well paced. Many action movies end up dragging and feeling too long, but this is not the case with “Premium Rush.”
Overall, I think this movie will be a good date movie for the end of summer. The guys will enjoy it; the women won’t be too bored by it and maybe even distracted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt looking at the top of his physical form.
Rating: B