Theater Whore: Premium Rush

The streets of New York City are full of lunatics on bikes that dodge in between cars and have little regard for the rules of the road or personal safety! That's what I learned from watching Premium Rush. Yeah, they have couriers like that here in Los Angeles but its concentrated in a very small area Downtown. I had heard about this movie being good and I checked its numbers at the box office and it didn't add up. I had not heard anything bad and wondered why no one was seeing this and it turns out that people have stopped going to the movies for the past few weeks.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Wilee, a bicycle messenger who is the ebst in the city. Regardless of that he does not make a lot of money. To him its not about that. Its about riding his no brake having ass bike through the city. At the end of his shift he gets a call to deliver a package that has to be there are 7pm. He gets the envelope which is at his former college where he studied to become a lawyer and is stopped by a guy you just know is bad played by Michael Shannon. Wilee leaves his ass in the dust and races off to deliver his shit.

His murder button is stuck in the on position.

Now this bad guy, Bobby Monday, has an obvious gambling problem. He's fucking with these Chinese people who know he's a cop but beat his ass for trying to start shit. He gets a tooth knocked out and whips one of them so bad he has to go to the hospital. The guy dies before he gets there and now he needs money to pay off his debt and to make up for killing someone. Where will he get that money? From that envelope! I forgot to explain that the way this movie is done. Things happen and it rewinds and shows you how you got to the point that you are now at. It sounds far more confusing than it actually is.

"Oh, this? Its uh...I strip."

The money is from this girl named Nima played by Jamie Chung. She is roommates with Wilee's ex girlfriend, Vanessa, played by Dania Ramirez. She is doing something illegal but you don't find out till later what it is. Will I reveal it? Maybe I will and maybe I will. Its fifty grand that she has used for a ticket for something very important and if Bobby Monday gets it he can solve his money problems. In between all of this there is Wilee wanting his girl back, the asshole co-worker, Manny, who thinks he is the shit, the cops, not dying when getting from point A to point B. Just so much is happening in this movie but it makes sense.

Greetings from Astoria!

There is this one poor cop on a bike that gets fucked up, like, three or four times. This movie was really entertaining. Award winning? No. It is just a good movie that is worth checking out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been doing a really good job the past few years with films. Michael Shannon is always dependable, especially when playing a bad guy. Anyone that punches someone with broken ribs in the ribs while they are on a gurney is a terrible human being.

"Just let me touch one of 'em. You got two!"

This is one of those films that you will probably miss in the theaters but hear everyone talking about when its on video. I hate having that happen because the past few years it has happened way too many times. The action is good. The story, while farfetched, is still cool. Oh, this other cool trick they do is when Wilee is stuck in traffic they show every option he has to not get hit by a car and what will happen if he chooses each one. I liked that. Still don't like bike messengers though.

And for no reason here's another picture of Dania Ramirez.

Boom, ping, ping!