Columbia Pictures, Pariah,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Chung, Michael Shannon, Dania Ramirez, Aasif Mandvi, Aaron Tveit
Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a bike messenger in Manhattan, a very important, but sometimes thankless job delivering envelopes and packages around Manhattan quickly by bicycle. They cycle along at breakneck speed and dodge traffic, pedestrians, and all manner of obstacles along the way. But when he is given a package that is desperately wanted by corrupt NYPD detective it becomes a life and death chase through the streets of New York City.
This is an unusual little film. It’s kind of like the Fast and Furious type stories, but with bicycles. I didn’t that that would work, but it did on a certain level. Certainly not the greatest crime adventure action movie, it still has a great deal of action surprisingly. A bike rider has certain advantages when outrunning a car, even more than a motorcycle due to the small size, and Wilee uses all his skills to avoid this guy who won’t give up, all the while trying to figure out why he wants that delivery so fast. We do eventually get to find out what the delivery is for, and that’s a bit of a letdown. It’s not as exciting as it could have been, but at least it’s original. Unless you’re a Joseph Gordon-Levitt fan, of which I know there are a lot, or missing Manhattan very much, there is just not enough here for me to highly recommend it. I found it somewhat boring, and hard to keep up my interest in the story. To be honest, I didn’t really care if he delivered that package or not, I just wanted the movie to stop. Not a great film, but it has a niche audience that will probably enjoy it. I struggle to give it 3 stars, but I guess it’s just barely worth that.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Movie Review - Premium Rush (2012) {PG-13},
