Premium Rush (FILM REVIEW)
Premium Rush
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Manhattan
Serves as Backdrop for Adrenaline-Fueled Bike Thriller
Traffic is so congested in Manhattan nowadays, it’s
hard to see that terminally-gridlocked terrain as a viable setting for
high-octane chase scenes. Yet, that is precisely what we have in Premium Rush,
an adrenaline-fueled adventure revolving around the derring-do of daring bike
messengers who dart between cars and dodge
pedestrians to make their deliveries.
At
the film’s point of departure, we’re introduced to several staff members of a bonded
company called Security Courier. Employee of the Year Wilee (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt) is a Columbia
Law School
graduate who prefers this liberating line of work to being stuck sitting behind
a desk in a business suit every day.
Similarly,
his gorgeous girlfriend, Vanessa (Dania Ramirez), sees it as a refreshing
alternative to waiting tables in a restaurant. However, one hazard of the job
for her is having to fend off the sleazy overtures of fellow messenger, Manny
(Wole’ Parks), and of their equally-flirtatious dispatcher, Raj (Aasif Mandvi).
Nonetheless,
this picture is more about non-stop action than romance, and the fun starts
soon after Wilee accepts an assignment to transport an envelope designated
“Premium Rush” from his alma mater to Chinatown ASAP. But before he even has a
chance to leave campus, a gentleman (Michael Shannon) identifying himself as
the Dean of Students asks to take possession of the parcel.
Wilee’s
suspicion is aroused when Dean Ackerman inexplicably goes ballistic in response
to a polite explanation that it can only be handed over to the addressee. And
that concern escalates to fear when the guy starts frothing at the mouth and gives
hot pursuit by auto, running lights and driving against traffic.
The
pedal-pushing protagonist gives the creep the slip, but the plot thickens further
when he stops at the police station to report the attempted theft. There, he discovers
that he’s on his own because Ackerman, lo and behold, is ostensibly a crooked police
officer with a hidden agenda and a pecuniary interest in hijacking the package.
Unfolding
like a compelling cross of Crank (2006) and 16 Blocks (2006), Premium Rush proceeds from this juncture forward at a
breakneck pace that doesn’t give you a chance to pause to consider whether what
you’re watching is even credible. But nothing else matters when such an urgent
roller coaster ride, or should I say bike ride, manages to keep you on the edge
of your seat for its dizzying duration.
The Big Apple as the backdrop for a Tour
de Gridlock!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, ethnic slurs and profanity.
In English and Mandarin with subtitles.
Running time: 91 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
To see a trailer for Premium
Rush, visit:
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