Directed By: David Koepp
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Jamie Chung
Rating:
PG-13 for some violence, intense action sequences and language
Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Synopsis: Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) is a law-school dropout turned NYC bike messenger
who loves to ride fast on his brakeless bike. One day he gets a call to take an
envelope from a friend (Chung) and deliver it to Chinatown. Shortly after he’s
intercepted by a Detective Monday (Shannon) who needs the package to pay off a
gambling debt. From there and with the help of his ex-girlfriend (Ramirez), it
becomes a race between Wilee, Monday and the clock to get the package to its
destination.
REVIEW
Andrew:
Hello readers! We know it’s been a little bit since our last review and we
thank you for your patience! I’m back from my two-week stint working on
location in the middle of Pennsylvania and now Sarah and I can get back to
seeing movies together on a regular basis.
For the first movie we’re
going to review after my return (and as a new member of The Large Association
of Movie Blogs, what up?!) we saw Premium Rush, the new action film
starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises) and Michael Shannon
(Take
Shelter). JGL plays a NYC bike messenger named Wilee (pronounced
“Wiley” like the cartoon coyote) who picks up a parcel that Shannon’s corrupt
NYPD detective needs to intercept so he can pay off some gambling debts.
Sarah, this isn’t a film we
had a chance to preview last week but I’d say it’s one we’ve been looking
forward to because we like JGL. Now that we’ve seen it, what do you think of Premium
Rush?
Sarah:
I’m going to say that I didn’t mind it. I went into it knowing that it was going
to be nothing but bike chase sequences and JGL trying to get this package from
Point A to Point B as fast as he could and insanity would ensue in-between
those points.
I wasn’t necessarily
impressed with the dialogue or acting but I don’t think that’s why this movie
was made. I think it was to showcase this lifestyle of bike messaging. I like
JGL in it, I think it’s pretty sweet that he did his own stunts, and beyond
those remarks I’m just going to repeat that I didn’t mind it.
What did you think?
A: I
like your assessment that you didn’t mind it, because I didn’t love it nor did
I dislike it. It was definitely somewhere in-between. And I think that’s
because it’s what the filmmakers were striving for – they knew that it was
going to be ridiculous. You can kind of tell from the CGI involved with some of
the action pieces going on that it didn’t have the highest budget, too.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fairly good portrayal of a New York City bike messenger in Premium Rush. Despite all the silliness, his sincere depiction makes it fun instead of silly. |
They were just going for
something different, a little bit of an adrenaline rush. It’s not going to be
any sort of classic like Speed or anything, but Premium
Rush is certainly ridiculous along those lines and everyone involved
with the making of the film embraced it for that fact.
I did like the leads. You
nailed it on the head that the acting wasn’t great. But JGL certainly put his
all into it, especially doing a number of his own stunts; Michael Shannon did a
great job and seemed to be having a hell of a time bugging out as the bad guy
cop…
S:
Yeah, I don’t like him.
A: You
don’t like him in that role?
S: No,
I don’t like him in general. I don’t quite understand…I’ve looked him up on
IMDb and tried to see what I’ve seen him in and I guess I haven’t seen any of
the films that he’s critical lauded for, because he bugs me. I just don’t like
him. I find his voice extremely annoying and he’s NOT pleasant to look at, and
obviously his acting was subpar in this film so I’d have to see something he’s
acclaimed for, but I just wasn’t impressed.
A: Gotchya.
There are a few films he’s acclaimed for like Revolutionary Road and Take
Shelter that we need to get you to see I think. But yeah, he wasn’t
great in THIS film obviously and some of the mannerisms he does, especially
with his voice, kind of bugged me too but he played a good enough villain in
that you got the idea of why he was in the situation and why he was after
Wilee.
Again, Premium Rush is not a
GREAT movie. It’s not one you go to expecting to see it’s name popping up
around awards season, but let’s be honest – we needed a review for the site.
(*we both laugh*)
S:
Very true. And we have a number of great films coming out soon but this was one
I actually wanted to see. We’re both big JGL fans and…
A: And
we had fun! I laughed a number of times, I enjoyed the “Bike-O-Vision” as I’ve
heard the filmmakers call it, where Wilee would come up to a particularly dicey
situation and time would slow down and we’d see Wilee’s thought process about
which route he should take and the consequences he thought might happen if he
went that a certain way. That entertained me. They didn’t do it too much, which
was fine.
Our friend that went and saw
the movie with us, Steve, made a good point in the car that there was a LOT of
biking going on and there’s a LOT of stuff that goes down in a really condensed
amount of time so some things seemed unrealistic. But to be fair I’m not sure
what the real life of a NYC bike messenger is. They COULD bike all the way from
Columbia to Chinatown in less than an hour, I don’t know.
Ok, so one thing I did want
to touch on is you said the dialogue was kind of crappy…
S:
Kind of? It was AWFUL. Let me make that straight.
A: Noted.
So let me run down a list of movies that David Koepp, the director and
co-writer of Premium Rush, has written before as a screenwriter, shall I?
S:
Please do.
A: In
order: Death Becomes Her, Jurassic Park(!), Carlito’s
Way, Mission: Impossible, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Panic
Room, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Angels & Demons. So
he’s a pretty big name as far as screenwriting goes and there are some good
movies in there!
Sarah was not a fan of Michael Shannon (right) as the film's antagonist, Detective Monday. Andrew thought his chewing the scenery was pretty fun. Agree to disagree. |
S:
There are some good movies BUT…good movies that if you broke down their
dialogue, they’re simple. He writes simple dialogue, which isn’t awful for
every time, not all movies need to be super complex, but still.
A:
True, but the quality of films he’s been involved with in the past are better
than most. So kind of surprising that he would write such weak dialogue, in my
opinion.
S: But
you know at the same time I don’t think that was the focus of the film. The
dialogue wasn’t even second or third on the list of priorities really.
A:
Very true. Ok so let’s focus on a couple of positives real quick. The action
sequences were all actually really well shot, very well choreographed and well
executed by the actors and stuntmen.
S:
Yes, especially in the busier streets of Manhattan! It was impressive to see
them film it right in downtown New York.
A:
Agreed! I liked that we saw some different sides of Manhattan than you normally
do in movies and on TV.
S: Like
you usually see the glamorous sides of the city and streets like 5th
Avenue and Times Square, and we did have a scene go through Times Square but it
wasn’t a real important one.
A: I
particularly liked the way the seedy looking police precinct felt. We got to
see almost a more realistic side of New York City than we’ve seen in recent
years in film.
S:
Versus the New York City of Sex and the City.
A: So
props to the filmmakers for that, and props to JGL for doing a lot of his own stunts.
S: I
was very impressed with that. He’s becoming a very well-rounded actor and we
like him in a lot of things including The Dark Knight Rises but also in
films like Hesher.
A: Oh
yeah, and also think about how Premium Rush finished shooting a
couple of years ago, really, and has been sitting on the shelf. They definitely
released it now to capitalize on his rising stardom.
So what are our final
thoughts on Premium Rush?
S: I
don’t think you need to see this one in theatres.
A: No?
I think the chase scenes (and there are a lot of them) will look way better on
the big screen than a TV. But yeah, you don’t NEED to see it in theatres, I get
what you’re saying.
S:
Yeah. I’ll give you the chases will look better on the big screen. It’s not a
movie we’ll own someday, but overall it would make a nice matinee.
FINAL VERDICT: A nice way to kill a Saturday afternoon!
(Out of Five clapboards) |
Photo Courtesies: Movie Fanatic, Digital Trends, Screen Rant
"It’s not going to be any sort of classic like Speed or anything"
ReplyDeleteI guess it's a classic...? lol
But good review. I've been on the fence seeing it but with Lawless out tomorrow, this movie's probably going to get swept under the rug for a rainy day on DVD.
Speed is DEFINITELY a classic!
DeleteI'd call Speed a classic 90's action film! Again, not GREAT, but everyone knows it! Lol
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, Lawless is next up for us too. As is Celeste and Jesse Forever finally.
Good review. This flick didn't do much for me, but it was still a bunch of late-Summer fun that I needed after seeing The Apparition. God, that thing was shit and if you see it, good luck.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we have no intention of wasting our money on The Apparition. I might watch it someday on Netflix for the hell of it, but we're not wasting our hard-earned money on that one. At least The Raven was unintentionally funny.
Delete-A
Full Article www.dolabuy.co her latest blog dolabuy ysl browse around here dolabuy replica
ReplyDelete