Review: Premium Rush

David Koepp is one of the smartest writers in the industry today and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the most respected and best actors today. Is their team-up a good mix or not? Read on below.

Synopsis:
Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day's work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York's agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie - super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic. But a guy who's used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when a routine delivery turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. When Wilee picks up his last envelope of the day on a premium rush run, he discovers this package is different. This time, someone is actually trying to kill him. -- (C) Sony



Story:
Based from the synopsis, the story seems a little ridiculous but what saved this movie from being bad is the dialogue written by Koepp, the lines were smart and some of it actually made sense and helped the movie not to be stupid. The story seems simple but like I said it was kind of ridiculous and somehow not believable.

Acting:
Gordon-Levitt acting was good, it felt like he just wants to have some fun and it clearly showed that he was having a good time here. Moving on, the villain here is played by Michael Shannon and he was perfect, he was simply terrifying.

Cinematography/VFX:
It was excellent, with the help of a little CGI; the set-pieces became much more effective and so much better. The use of the VFX here showed Levitts “ability”, and it was him playing in his mind what would happen if he took that way or the other way, it was one aspect in the film that I really, really liked.

Direction:
‘Ghost Town’ is one of my favourite comedies ever and it was written and directed by David Koepp. Now, ‘Premium Rush’ is not a step-up at Koepp’s game but it also wasn’t a step-down. I think I see this attempt of him as taking a break and just simply have fun.

Overall:
‘Premium Rush’ is exciting and well-shot with a good performance from Levitt and a scaretastic performance from Michael Shannon. I give this film a 3/5.