Review: Premium Rush

I love what technology has done for films.  The advancement of computer graphics has allowed directors to take us to worlds previously reserved for the imagination like the planet Pandora in Avatar and to realize characters like The Avengers on a scale that was previously relegated to the funny pages.  And because of this, the bar for action movies keeps getting set higher and higher.  But as much as I love this escalation of scale and scope, I have to admit that Premium Rush is a refreshing change of pace from this trend, as the plot is taut, the scope is narrow, and the live action feels incredibly real.  The finished product then plays like a narrative that is adrenaline fueled and in a perpetual state of motion.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, fresh off his impressive performance in The Dark Knight Rises, keeps the ball rolling as Wilee, a law student turned bike messenger who shreds the pavement of NYC with reckless abandon.  When a premium rush job ends up in his bag, he finds himself on the run from Michael Shannon’s, Bobby Monday – a man with questionable intentions.

While most action movies incorporate one great chase scene to serve as its signature action sequence, Premium Rush in its totality is in fact one great chase.  Normally this might not be dynamic enough to drive the plot of an entire film, but writer/director David Koepp builds sub layers to this great pursuit – a chase within a chase within a chase – that involves a symphony of moving pieces while never losing sight of the ultimate end game.

New York City serves as a perfect backdrop to the game that is afoot.  The film expertly showcases the city in a way that seems very organic.  From Columbus Circle to the Chelsea Pier, the traffic, the milling pedestrians, and the urban bustle become as much a part of the supporting cast as anyone not receiving top billing.  The director manages to frame the city in such a way that it made me nostalgic for my time in New York (which is no easy feat) in much the same way that To Rome with Love and Midnight in Paris made me fondly reminisce.

As for the cast, Gordon-Levitt is very good at making a difficult character likeable and in this way he does a great job of portraying an anti-establishment bike messenger.  More importantly he completely takes on the physicality of the role and carries himself in a way that makes his command of the bicycle highly credible – even when it is in fact a stunt double.  This is significant because  bike action dominates the film and any break in that illusion would critically derail the narrative.

As for the supporting cast, Michael Shannon delivers yet another good villainous performance.  He is an expert at making characters feel authentically creepy while incorporating elements of menace, and this makes his performance stand out.  Likewise, Dania Ramirez does a good job playing opposite Gordon-Levitt as a fellow bike messenger and a love interest, though the romantic aspect of this movie is merely a subplot.  Premium Rush is about the chase, and Ramirez is up to the task of keeping pace.  As for Jamie Chung, Aasif Mandvi, and Wole Parks, they do decent work as mechanism to add color and to build depth into the plot and its characters, most of whom rarely stay in one place long enough for anyone to get a good look. 

The caveat in a film like this is that because it is almost perpetually in a state of action, there is little room for substance.  However, the cast and crew do enough to ensure that in those rare instances where the proceedings pause to take a breath, there is ample exposition to keep the audience emotionally invested.  So while the plot is not super sophisticated, the protagonists are engaging, the pacing exhilarating, and the payoff very satisfying.  Thus, I would definitely recommend this movie and would recommend a theatrical viewing as the stunts are top notch and the cityscape is well framed.  As you walk out of the cinema, you will definitely feel entertained and you just might feel the urge to get your bike out of storage.

Standout Performance: It probably should go to Gordon-Levitt, but I am giving the nod to Christopher Place.  Mostly known for stunt work, Place brings a nice bit of comedic relief to the proceedings as a beleaguered bike cop.

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Review: American Reunion

If you’re on the wrong side of thirty then you are probably old enough to remember one of my favorite Christmas classics – A Very Brady Christmas.  Go ahead; read it again.  It is not a typo.  I loved the heck out of that made for TV movie; and not because it was particularly well written - because it wasn’t - and not because it was telegenic art – because it most certainly was not.  The reason I enjoyed it so much was because it reached into the memory bank and brought me back to those grade school afternoons in front of the television set, which was always set to channel 56.  You see - there is something comforting about familiarity.  It’s like seeing an old friend or the house that you used to grow up in and immediately being whisked away to a better time and place.  It’s why the Brady reunion struck a chord with viewers, because seeing those familiar faces all in one place again evoked nostalgia. 

Writers/Directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are clearly trying to corner the market on R-rated comedies as they have followed up the debacle that was Harold and Kumar 3D with American Reunion.  I am mildly relieved to say that the latter is a much better showing than the former, but things really could only have gotten better.  What they have working in their favor is nostalgia.  It’s all they really have going for them.  It’s their hook, because the latest and hopefully last installment in the series features the entire original cast.  No ringers, no bate and switches, and no poor man’s doppelganger.  That gives the movie a big event feel, even though most of the cast have not only seen their stars fade immensely but some are straight up reclamations projects.

As for what ails this film, the problems are three-fold.  The first is that there is too much going on.  Each member of the principle cast has to have a reason for returning to a 13 year high school reunion (and thus appearing in the film).  Because of this, we are left with a web of spaghetti-thin plot lines woven into a tangled mess.  Sure, sentimentality and the ease with which Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, et al slide back into their roles makes the plot a bit more palatable, but it is just not enough to overcome the second problem, which is the recycling of the Stifler redemption storyline.  The “Stifler has not moved on and has not realized that time has passed him by” storyline was done in American Wedding but I am guessing that the writers assumed they could get away with recycling it since so few saw that film.  The third problem is that it is just not that funny.  The jokes were stale and delivered by a cast that - to be honest - looked a little too weathered to deliver the punch lines. 

It’s not a waste of time to watch this movie especially if you’re a fan of the previous films.  It’s just not a great use of your time.  If the comfort of familiarity and nostalgia is what you seek and you are okay with knowing that Hurwitz and Schlossberg often deliver raunch in lieu of real comedy then you will be entertained.  If you’re a casual fan and prefer sharp and witty humor, you should probably save this for a rental.  The novelty of seeing older versions of the characters you once knew, can only last so long when one's affinity for those characters is measured.

Standout Performance:  Eugene Levy - a fantastic comedic veteran – is given a larger role in this film and is responsible for nearly all of the few laugh out loud moments that in the film.  

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