I love a good chase film. You know the type – think Apocalypto. There’s a good guy on a
mission to get from point A to point B, and there’s a bad guy doing everything
he can to stop him. The good guy tries to outwit and outrun the bad guy, and
the bad guy tries to lay traps to keep the good guy from making it to his
objective. It's a cat-and-mouse game. When done right, these types of films are smart, fast-paced, and
thrilling.
I’m happy to say that Premium
Rush is a very good chase film.
The story follows a bike messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
who must deliver a mysterious package across Manhattan while being pursued by a
cop (Michael Shannon). Along the way, we are introduced to a collection of
interesting characters, have a fast-paced tour through New York City, and are
treated to non-stop action.
JGL is great as usual as Wilee, a charming and intelligent
guy who prefers to risk life and limb as a bike messenger rather than do grown
up stuff. Michael Shannon puts in a fun performance as Bobby, the cop who is
having a very bad day and desperately tries to get the package from Wilee.
These guys share most of the screen-time, and it’s fun to watch them dive into
the cat-and-mouse gamesmanship. All the support roles, mostly Type-A
personality bike messengers zipping about the city, are capably acted.
The real star of the film, however, is someone who never
makes it on screen. Writer/director David Koepp does a masterful job on this
film. There are a few important elements of a great chase film. And Koepp nails
most of them.
The first is pacing. The film has to start fast, and it can
never waiver. Koepp uses a non-linear approach to achieve this. Essentially, we
are treated to cool little action bits, and by jumping around through the
narrative, Koepp lets us piece together the details and grasp the magnitude of
the chase. It’s a risky move as too much jumping around can leave us lost or
disoriented. Koepp chooses the breaks wisely, and good editing actually
ratchets up the intensity of the film with each of these time changes. In a nice
touch, an actual clock dialing backward and forward signifies each change so
we’re never lost in the timeline. This approach means that the action is nearly
constant. We don’t waste twenty minutes at the beginning of the movie setting
up dominoes; they’re already falling when the movie starts. I should also note
that the film is only 91 minutes long, which is very short in today’s
Hollywood. This means the film doesn’t linger on any one plot point before moving
on to the next story beat. A fast pace is a good pace, especially when each of the story elements is this well organized.
Another important element is geography. We have to know where
each of the players is and where they are going at all times, especially when the
timeline changes throughout the film. Things could be very disorienting
otherwise. Koepp handles geography directly by showing us what are essentially
glamorized Google Maps. Stylish animations zoom around a map of Manhattan
showing us where each character currently is located, where they must go, and
the path they must take to get there. It’s effective, it looks slick, and it
goes a long way to keep us on the same page with the characters. It never feels
like we’re lost.
Tw guys having one very bad day |
Solid action also is an element of a good chase film. Riding
bikes may not have the same appeal as high-speed car chases, but I’d wager that
weaving a bicycle at breakneck speed through Manhattan traffic is as nerve
wracking as racing an Audi through Paris streets. The risk and danger are
there. JGL had several stunt doubles on the film and still went to the hospital
for stitches. The action, which showcases just how crazy bike messengers must
be to do their job, is intense and keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Plus,
Koepp mixes up several different and interesting camera angles so that it’s not
the same viewpoints over and over.
In the end, it’s the final element of the chase film
blueprint that misses the mark ever so slightly and keeps Premium Rush from being a masterpiece. The stakes of the chase must
be high from the beginning. However, we don’t know the magnitude of the stakes
until very late in Premium Rush.
Sure, we know that delivering the package is important to Wilee since he’s the
best delivery guy in the city and his pride dictates it gets there on time. We
don’t know much about the contents of the package until halfway through the
film. More importantly, we don’t know what the contents actually signify until
the final act of the film. To be fair, the reasons are interesting and
compelling and we root for the package to be delivered on time. It’s just that
unveiling the reality of the situation so late makes most of the film seem like
a childhood game. It’s Wilee saying “I’ll deliver the package and you can’t
stop me” and Bobby saying “I can too stop you.” It would have been nice to know how important the package delivery was for all the people involved earlier in the movie.
There are many things done very well in Premium Rush. The story is fun, the characters are great, the
action is intense, it’s easy to follow, and there’s a surprising amount of
humor and heart to the film. It’s not quite the perfect chase film, but it
comes very close.
4 out of 5 stars
Does Premium Rush make
inspire you to grab your Schwinn and give it a cruise around the block? Let me
know in the comments below or on Twitter!
Nothing new that we haven’t seen or heard before, but it still has some fun with itself, even if the writing really takes away from it. Nice review Todd.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't trying to be anything more than a fun time, and I think it did its job very well. I'm sad that such a fun little film did so poorly at the box office. Glad you liked the review!
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