Premium Rush

Premium Rush follows Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Wilee, a rough-and-tumble bike messenger, as he’s forced to evade a dirty cop (Michael Shannon’s Bobby Monday) after picking up a valuable package, with the film subsequently (and primarily) detailing the game of cat and mouse that ensues between the two characters. There’s little doubt that Premium Rush starts with a tremendous amount of promise, as filmmaker David Koepp, working from a script cowritten with John Kamps, kicks the proceedings off with a blisteringly-paced introductory sequence that seems to promise Speed on bicycles. The better-than-average feel is perpetuated by Gordon-Levitt’s remarkably (yet expectedly) charismatic performance, while Shannon effortlessly steals each and every one of his scenes with his menacing, deliciously over-the-top turn as the film’s sinister villain. It’s just a matter of time, however, before the propulsive atmosphere takes a palpable hit, as Koepp, on several occasions, literally rewinds the clock to explore the circumstances that brought each of the characters to this point (eg we see exactly why Bobby desperately needs that package), with this device, intriguing as it may be, wreaking havoc on the film’s momentum and highlighting the less-than-substantial nature of the storyline. In terms of the latter, Koepp attempts to compensate by flooding the midsection with one chase after another, but it’s ultimately clear that the narrative could’ve used a few more twists and surprises. And although it picks up again with an extremely entertaining final stretch, Premium Rush is, in the final analysis, a forgettable little thriller that never quite becomes as engrossing or captivating as one might’ve hoped.

**1/2 out of ****