Premium
Rush
Joseph
Gordon-Levitt has certainly come a long way in his acting career. You
may remember him as one of four aliens in the hit comedy “3rd
Rock from the Sun”. In that show, Levitt played a teenager who was
actually the oldest, smartest and most sensible of the four aliens.
His long hair and skinny-as-a-rake appearance established
his ability to play quirky characters. He popped up in a
few teen movies in the late nineties, and then seemed to disappear
from TV and film for a while. Then, in the early 00’s he
re-appeared and started to show he had made the transition from teen
star to accomplished actor, turning out some good performances in a
variety of roles. It appeared as if Levitt was committing to acting
for the long haul and he wasn’t going to be pigeon holed as “that
kid with the long hair from that 3rd
Rock show”. What really got audiences to sit up and take notice of
this skilled young performer, was his turn in 2010’s “Inception”.
Playing the pivotal part of The Pointman, Levit proved himself worthy
in the company of Leonardo Di Caprio. Two years later, Christopher
Nolan hired Levitt again for the conclusion to the Batman series. As
a young street cop trying to stay honest in a crime-ridden city,
Levitt’s character of Blake in “The Dark Knight Rises” was the
emotional arc and conscious of the film, and led audiences to believe
that he may carry on the Batman legacy in the future, as one Boy
Wonder….
Also
in 2012, Levitt took the lead in this small-time action film.
The trailer looked kickin’ but unfortunately, the film didn’t
make it to theatres in Australia. Fortunately, it has just arrived on
DVD. In this film he plays Wilee, a bike messenger in New York City.
Wilee delivers important messages to any address in the city, when
phone, fax or email doesn’t work and the memo needs to be there
five minutes ago. He hops on his bike, of which he has removed the
gears and breaks,
so he can ride fast, hard and uninterrupted down the long, busy
streets of Manhattan. In these scenes, Wilee has the skill of
foresight, and this is demonstrated in a creative and visual way on
screen. When approaching a busy intersection, Wilee seems to make
time slow down for himself, and looks for alternative routes through
the congestion. By picturing an imaginary line of safety, he is able
to predict the collisions he may have, the people he may ride into
and the obstacles he will need to dodge. Then, at the last moment and
in the blink of en eye, Wilee skilfully manoeuvres himself through
the traffic unscathed and continues on his way.
Our
story takes place in real time, and I love when the movies use this
technique. It was done so well in the show “24” but on the silver
screen, it has been tried and met with mixed results. Premium Rush
gets it right I’m glad to say, and as the film runs at a crisp 90
minutes, the majority of the story takes place in that time. It all
kicks off when Wilee arrives at Columbia University in the heart of
the city, with orders to pick up a special envelope. The young lady
who hands it over looks tense and anxious, as she stresses the
importance of getting the envelope to the address on time. Wilee
takes it and guarantees her package will get to where it needs to be
on time. As he’s about to head out of the campus on his bike, a man
in a suit runs up to him asking for the envelope back. Identifying
himself as the head of campus security, Wilee holds his position and
refuses to hand over the envelope. The man gets pushy, demanding the
messenger hand it over, so in a clever way, Wilee distracts him and
takes off on his bike. The man isn’t giving up, and so the stage is
set for a chaotic chase through the streets of The Big Apple.
Premium
Rush is all about the bikes. For those of us who in live in
Melbourne, you will be all too familiar with the barrage of cyclists
who share the roads with us. In the heart of the city, they will zip
around confidently, usually sticking to their allocated bike lanes
(but sometimes not). When driving amongst them, we need to check our
mirrors, quite often change lanes, and occasionally, furiously wave
our arms at them when they slow us down. Whether you support cyclists
on the road or not is your opinion, but if Premium Rush’s depiction
is right, it would seem that the relationship between bike riders and
motorist on the streets of New York is much more hostile than in
Melbourne. Wilee flies down the endless streets and long avenues as
if he is the only one on the road. He manages to move faster than
most of the cars on the road, and in a moments notice will cut across
lanes and dart through intersections, missing vehicles and people by
mere inches. This ability serves him as well as the man in the suit
pursues him through the city. What started as a matter of refusing to
hand over the envelope has now become a fight for his life, as Wilee
sees firsthand that his hunter is not giving up and will break all
the road rules to get what he wants.
The
whole movie moves fast, and you would do best to watch it in one go
and uninterrupted. The stakes are high, the action is plenty and the
overall feel of the film is one of adrenaline, cunning and
excitement. The story is simple and has a few holes, but these are
overlooked because it’s all about the chase in Premium Rush. If you
feel compelled to ride your bike after this film, just take it easy
out there. Wilee can do just about anything on his bike and avoids
collisions and catastrophes countless times. But this is a movie, and
in reality no one can get away with riding their wheels through the
city so carelessly. So in saying that, enjoy the film!
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