Film Review: PREMIUM RUSH (2012)

Director: David Koepp
Writers: David Koepp, John Kamps
Running time: 90 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller
UK Release date: 14^th September 2012

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6^th October 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have to admit I knew very little about this one going in; it’s one of those I liked the look of from a brief clip and the two paragraph write-up on the TV guide. It wasn’t perfect, but it did enough to entertain me, even with one or two laughs along the way. I will tell you more after this very brief summary.

The story centres on a group of bicycle couriers in New York City. Principle among them is Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who has a rivalry with Manny (Wolé Parks), who is chasing Wilee’s girlfriend, Vanessa (Dania Ramirez). Now, Wilee picks up a package from Vanessa’s room mate, Nima (Jamie Chung) which he has to deliver by 7PM. He sets off but soon finds he is being pursued by a cop, Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), who has his own reasons for wanting to get his hands on that package. We are told, in flashback, what the significance of the package is and just why Monday is so desperate to get his hands on it. There are many twists and turns before the end and more than one of them could get hurt, after all, it’s dangerous out there!

Very well made with a nice pacey start that really grabs your attention. Sadly, it cannot maintain that rate, but it soon settles down as we get to know the various characters. I did find all the to-and-fro with flashbacks a little confusing at times, but it soon sorted itself out. On the performance front, everyone did an excellent job but the stand-out by some margin (for me) was Michael Shannon. He really does play the slightly psychotic cop so very well. I felt the final pay-off didn’t quite live up to its initial promise, but I found it entertaining enough. Well worth a look; but don’t put a stopwatch on it.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 7.2/10.

IMDb Score: 6.5/10 (based on 62,604 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/

MetaScore: 66/100: (Based on 36 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 76/100: (based on 154 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 61/100: (based on 128,395 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/premium_rush/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.premiumrush.com/
Trailer: