Premium Rush
2012
Pariah / Columbia Pictures
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
9.25 / 10
This is a beautifully shot movie which has stole its way into my heart. I saw the trailer back in 2012 and wanted to watch the movie. However, it didn't get released in my town's cinemas and it never appeared in the DVD shops. After a year or so I'd forgotten about it. Then the Sony Movie Channel started airing it... and am I glad(?)
The story runs second to the action, being there to weave together the adrenalin powered sequences. However, the story is quite ambitious - you have a woman who is trying to bring her son to America; a dirty cop with a gambling addiction; a Chinese gang who are managing the cop to clear his debt; and a bike messenger who loves the job more than his girlfriend does. Wilee, played perfectly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a bike courier in New York, who is requested to deliver an envelope to Chinatown before 7 pm. Unfortunately for him, there's something of interest in the envelope which has him being pursued by a corrupt cop, Bobby Monday (this is probably Michael Shannon's strongest role), for its contents. Within the envelope is one woman's hopes and dreams of reuniting with her estranged son.
This film would have been a perfect ten had these elements been expanded and tightened a little more, especially the relationship of the Mom, Nima (Jamie Chung) and her roommate, who is coincidentally Wilee's girlfriend Vanessa. This relationship and the scenes shot around it just feel like filler. Which is a shame since Nima actually requests Wilee to carry the envelope to its destination, though it appears Vanessa and Nima are more like strangers, than roommates.
Though the acting is tight and the actors are strong in their portrayals it's the action and the direction which adds the cherry to the cake in this film. David Koepp has a great eye for this style of movie. From the extreme zoom-outs, from street level to satellite view to show the biker's route and back into street view adds a new dimension to the film. This is well crafted and thought out as you pass through clouds and the satellite views are never the same, which keeps these sections fresh and interesting. But the innovative sequences don't stop there as Koepp slows down time to show Wilee figuring out which routes to take when he hits heavy traffic, since the wrong direction may harm him, a driver, or a pedestrian. This is an awesome concept and works well. Then you have the speed as the bikes race and dance through speeding traffic on the streets - these scenes are deftly choreographed and filmed in every camera angle possible to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and marvelling at how nobody is getting killed.
I would recommend anybody to watch this film, but please take an hour afterwards to calm down, before taking to the streets on your bikes. If you're an up and coming director or film student then this is a must watch movie as it shows originality, ingenuity, and artistic talent.
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