1. MegWhiteley

   10

   Cool, funny, fresh and original. Premium Rush is a great movie.

   • Helpful? 7 of 8 users said Yes.
2. Myffubs

   8

   Premium Rush delivers on the promise of its title. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a daring NYC bike messenger. Apparently there is no end to the risks bike messengers take. Some of the film's best sequences elaborate on various possibilities that could end in disaster. Michael Shannon plays a hapless cop whose gambling habits have gotten him into trouble with the wrong people. His performance is another of the movie's numerous highlights. Gordon-Levitt receives an envelope, the contents of which could help Shannon. Premium Rush moves back and forward in time and all across NYC, following different characters and providing the audience with the central scenario before fleshing out the details. This approach works decidedly better than more straightforward storytelling. Writer/director David Koepp capably maintains tension, while his and John Kamps's script successfully injects humor into various situations. The characters are well defined and have plausible motivations. Ultimately Premium Rush is fairly simple, but it offers enough innovation and personality to rise above standard genre fare. Those looking for a good time would do well to see it.… Collapse

   • Helpful? 2 of 3 users said Yes.
3. OneManCrowd

   7

   Fast and fun, Premium Rush gave me a reason to perhaps try to navigate the streets of New York on a brakeless, fixed-gear bicycle. The best scenes by far were the incredible high-speed bike-races through the city, zipping by taxis, pedestrians, and even New York… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
4. G_Thomas_Boston

   4

   Be careful on the streets of New York. You'll find mayhem, close-calls, accidents, rude behavior, violence, and danger; and that's just from the bicycle messengers.
   
   Premium Rush is the story of one of those messengers (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who must make an important and urgent delivery through Manhattan rush-hour traffic. Gordon-Levitt's character, Wilee, is such a maniac that he rides a bike without brakes, derailleur gears or de rigueur rails.
   
   Joining Wilee on this thrill ride are Manny (Wolé Parks) and Vanessa (Dania Ramirez). I don't know if this film is supposed to make us feel some sympathy for the plight of the downtrodden bicycle messenger, but I personally was rooting for the bad cop (Michael Shannon) to haul their hazardous hineys to the hoosegow for being the dangerous road jerks that they are.
   
   The acting is uneven at best. Ramirez must have gone to the Scowling-Is-Acting School for Young Thespians. Not that she can't make a career out of a scowl. Bruce Willis has been a show-biz success for nearly 30 years with no discernible asset other than a smirk. Shannon's acting isn't much better. I've enjoyed his previous work in Boardwalk Empire and the excellent Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Here, however, he vacillates between a tough-as-nails Cagney-like bad guy to an exasperated high-pitched whining comic-relief character reminiscent of Curly Howard.
   
   Most of the film's 90 minutes, is spent wheeling on bicycles through traffic. I found it rather tiresome (ha ha! get it? tiresome... tire... you know... bicycle... forget it).
   
   If it's bicycles and a thrilling chase that you have a craving for, watch two movies Breaking Away and Bullitt. You'll get the fix you need and see two infinitely better films in the process.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.

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