Review: Premium Rush

Score:C-

Director:David Koepp

Cast:Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Jamie Chung

Running Time:91.00

Rated:PG-13

While I admire and appreciate originality, it ultimately takes a lot more to make a good movie. Granted, David Koepp's Premium Rush did have quickly rising star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but ultimately it was able to showcase little else.  While many will applaud its stylistic storytelling and its "intensity", the film never reached its full potential, falling victim to itself as it was unable to find its footing and make a stand.

It goes without saying that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the best part of this film.  His ability to keep your attention as he fluctuates between comedy and drama is quite impressive, even if the events around him failed to muster much excitement.

The film takes audiences along for a ride with New York City's bike messengers as they weave and turn their way amongst cars and civilians in one of the world's most congested cities.  But when Gordon-Levitt's Wilee gets a last minute package from his girlfriend's soon-to-be ex-roommate, his life is thrown into a wild spin.  Now, with the clock ticking and his life on the line, Wilee must cart the package across the city and deliver its contents in time...or else die trying.

Now I'll admit that the premise has potential, and the cast is somewhat impressive.  But in all honesty, the movie is boring and highly unbelievable as all you witness is a steady game of cat-and-mouse, except this one takes place throughout the streets of NYC.

There are a few intriguing moments, and those help to carry the film as much as any set of scenes can, but eventually you begin to tire and wish for an ending.  I honestly feel that had the studio been confident enough and gone with an R-rated script, then we would have been greeted with a darker, more intense and adrenaline-filled experience.  As it stands, I couldn't help but be bored for most of the supposed 'premium rush.'

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About Stephen Davis

Stephen Davis
I owe this hobby/career to the one and only Stephanie Peterman who, while interning at Fox, told me that I had too many opinions and irrelevant information to keep it all bottled up inside. I survived my first rated R film, Alive, at the ripe age of 8, it took me months to grasp the fact that Julia Roberts actually died at the end of Steel Magnolias, and I might be the only person alive who actually enjoyed Sorority Row…for its comedic value of course. While my friends can drink you under the table, I can outwatch you when it comes iconic, yet horrid 80s films like Adventures in Babysitting and Troop Beverly Hills. I have no shame when it comes to what I like, and if you have a problem with that, then we’ll settle it on the racquetball court. I see too many movies to actually win any film trivia contest, so don’t waste your first pick on me. My friends rent movies from my bookcase shelves, and one day I do plan to start charging. I long to live in LA, where my movie obsession will actually help me fit in, but for now I am content with my home in Austin. I prefer indies to blockbusters, Longhorns to Sooners and Halloween to Friday the 13th. I miss the classics, as well as John Ritter, and I hope to one day sit down and interview the amazing Kate Winslet.

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