Premium Rush: The Bike Messenger as Action Hero?
All of the coincidences in the screenplay are a little hard to take, and characters behave in strangely nonsensical ways. For instance, Wilee stops in a police station to report he’s being harassed by the guy he thinks is a university security official, even though it seems clear that simply waiting for a cop to speak to and filling out paperwork could easily kill the entire hour and a half he needs to deliver the envelope. This police station not only turns out to be Monday’s station house, but the villain himself walks in five minutes later.
So the direction by David Koepp (who also wrote the screenplay with John Kamps) doesn’t bother too much with anything but action, but there is plenty of it. Wilee keeps one step ahead of the pursuing cop by rocketing against traffic down one-way streets, riding his bike into little shops that he knows have exits to alleyways out back, and making nervy decisions to swerve through obstacles in everyday Manhattan traffic. In one of the better scenes, he manages to use a stolen mountain bike to escape a desolate tow yard by riding it over the roofs and hoods of all the cars the city stores there. A guy on a bike is such a small target that he can slip through almost any tight space, and the more the cops chase Wilee the more he humiliates their lumbering ways. Gordon-Levitt’s character is misnamed, though: He’s more like the Road Runner, or like Peter Rabbit forever foiling Mr. MacGregor.
isn’t this just “quicksilver” redone? (and probably poorly at that)
just what we need here in california are more hot-headed overly self-entitled bicyclers inspired by this flick
You’re referring to the Kevin Bacon movie, right?
I find movies based on obscure sub-groups and genres to be usually pathetic, especially when it involves riding a bicycle.
I didn’t realize there were still bike messengers about. How Stone Age is that?
This looks like it is going to be a horrible movie.
http://uselections2012blog.blogspot.ca/
I saw the commercial trailer for this and noted that I will not occupy any of my life wasting time to see it. My comment-to-self was, “Great, a movie whose sole purpose is to give otherwise unemployable trick bicycle riders a brief moment of glory and fame.” In other words, useless. Very narrow in the selected audience (skateboarders and trick bike punks), narrower in plot, a few grand spend on writers, nah.
Now…if it was Batmanon a bicycle…
Wait. No. Never mind. Bad idea. Sorry.
As a bike rider myself (old Giant ATX) I do average 20 miles a day on a bike for exercise, most folks in vehicles with more than two wheels look at me like I am from mars, never seen a bike before you would think. Now the kids these days will go to the movie and then rush out alright but not to buy bikes, Nope they will buy video games that depict a first person view of riding a bike in a virtual 3D format. Obese, lazy or just scared they won’t touch a bike unless it’s posing with one. To top it all off, riding a bicycle hurts, is either hot or cold and makes you thirsty then you get all sweaty. Kids will not rush out to become a bike messenger.
To really ride a bike you must adopt the doctrine of “Pain is weakness leaving the body” then get a rhythm going with the pedals.
Motorcycleist are the friendliest people I meet, profound in’nit.
In my case the pain is last week’s pizza leaving the body as I creak up those hills.
Bicycling gets multiple muscles and is great exercise.
HEP-T,
The movie that got me and my compadres out on our dirt bikes (mountain bikes were still not available at that time) was RAD..!
I don’t know HOW many hours we tried, overwhelmingly failing most of the time the tricks from the, ‘RAD’ movie.
Lastly, if we want to talk, ‘Action Heroes’ other than the masked crusaders, how ’bout Kenny F-’in Powers coming back, uh!
Woohoo!
Get your hair corn-rowed, 4-wheeled motorcycle tuned up and Oakley razor blade sunglasses polished for the man’s man back on the screen!
so will this make more bike riders do stupid things on bikes that will get them killed? Probably and then who will they blame??????
But I am having enough problems in my neighborhood with those on bicycles that don’t think any motor vehicle laws apply to them and have seen enough near misses and did witness a collision that could have been a disaster for the bicycle, riding on the wrong side of the street, going through a red light and hitting a vehicle hard enough to dent the vehicle and destroy the bicycle.
Was a joy to stop and be a witness for the driver of the car, and hoped that he would sue the bicyclist for the damage to his car,
Folks who like that movie should look into a bike movie called Line of Sight. The documentary is marvelous, and would absolutely suggest watching it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGlZrK9WYpo