Premium Rush

3/4

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Wole Parks, Jamie Chung, Christopher Place

Rated PG-13 for Some Violence, Intense Action Sequences, and Language

Shortly before its release, Columbia pushed back the release date for David Koepp's new movie, "Premium Rush."  Switching release dates from one dump month to the next is usually a sign that the movie is awful, but actually, August it the perfect time to release the movie.  It's filled with the bright sunny energy that has been missing from summer movies for the past 15 years (when did movies become so grim?).  And it won't get lost in the superhero blitz.

Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) is a bike courier in New York City.  When e-mail, FedEx, or snail mail won't work, they call Wilee.  He's incredibly fast on his bike; he has no brakes and no gears.  Some of his friends think he has a death wish.  But Wilee simply likes to ride fast.  One afternoon, he's personally called to deliver an envelope, and it must be delivered on time.  As soon as he's out the door, a guy named Bobby Monday (Shannon) wants it back.  Wilee tells him that once it's in the bag, it's gotta stay there.  But Bobby won't take no for an answer, and he'll do anything to get what's in the envelope.

"Premium Rush" is the kind of action movie they used to make.  Its draw wasn't obsessive marketing or superheroes, but it's plot.  Racing through New York City on a bike, dodging cars and bicycle cops...how cool is that?  The sun is also shining, and there is a sense of high-energy and spirit.  Apologies to Christopher Nolan, but there are times when we want to see a movie that is fun.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who became famous for playing Tommy Solomon on the TV show "3rd Rock from the Sun," has matured in to a great young actor.  It became apparent to me from seeing him in "The Lookout" that he was able to carry a movie on his own.  Five years and two movies for Christopher Nolan later, that hasn't changed.  There may be other characters in the film, but they fade into the background next to Gordon-Levitt.  Michael Shannon, another character actor who recently hit it big, is perfectly nasty as Bobby Monday (ironic for a man who was known for playing shell-shocked characters in movies like "High Crimes" and "Bug."  Also worth mentioning are Dania Ramirez, who plays Vanessa, Wilee's ex and stuntman Christopher Place, who plays the increasingly injured cop who's after Wilee.

The problem is that the plot is inelegantly written and handled by David Koepp, who's known for being a good writer (he wrote, among others, the screenplay for "Jurassic Park."  He reveals the plot in pieces with flashbacks for different characters.  It's confusing at first, but it begins to make sense in the second half.  The envelope is really a macguffin, although Koepp doesn't treat it as such.  Since the scenes where Wilee is racing through the city and/or being chased, Koepp should have relied less on the story and more on the action scenes.

Speaking of which, the action scenes are well done, but not as good as I'd hoped.  Koepp keeps things moving, and the film rarely slows down.  But the film pales in comparison to the likes of "Speed" (to which the film is vaguely similar).  I also liked how the film doesn't seem completely rendered with CGI like the "Sherlock Holmes" movies or your garden variety superhero flick.  There doesn't seem to be much green screen work, and the only CGI is when the film turns into a MapQuest to show where Wilee needs to go.

It is fun, and if it becomes a hit, we could see the fun come back into the action genre.