The world of bike couriers hardly sounds the most exciting arena to stage an action-thriller in and so it proves with David Koepp’s latest movie. Restless and boldly coloured, Premium Rush feels like a direct-to-DVD release from the ‘90s, albeit one with a decent cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Wilee (a cartoon name for a cartoonish film), an irritating New York courier who is chased by a corrupt cop after he picks up a sensitive package. The plot is perfunctory at best whilst the parcel is a simple MacGuffin, but both are secondary to a film that is more interested in delivering cheap thrills than compelling characters or plotting.

Koepp attempts to keep the metaphorical wheels turning via a hyperactive…

As I have talked about many times before, I have a self set rule of three for action films to follow in order for them to be, at the bare minimum, good. They are, in simple terms, as follows:

1. The protagonist(s) must be likable, so I can root for them to succeed.

2. There must be a compelling villain or force that opposes the protagonist so I can root against, and maybe even sympathize with at times.

3. The action must be clear to follow and full of suspense, and if possible, spectacle to make it fun to watch..

Of these rules, Premium Rush EXCELS in rules 2 and 3. Koepp shoots the action with a great sense of…

As far as I'm concerned, the world could use more movies like PREMIUM RUSH. That's not to say that I think it's a perfect film, but that it knows exactly what it is and does it well. It's a simple, direct, 90 minute, point-A-to-point-B adventure, set on one day in New York as a daring bike messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) tries to get a very important envelope across town, with a corrupt cop (a hilariously nutty Michael Shannon) in hot pursuit. That's the gist of it, but the script is also more clever and engaging that it has to be, making use of an interestingly criss-crossing narrative and some tricky chronology as it unspools the day's events.

Also, it makes me…

I'm trying really hard not to write this review with lots of cliche references to mail and deliveries however, Premium Rush is a film which leaves you with the same feeling as waiting for a delivery from your favourite internet store.

On the surface this should be a good little action number and there are some really nice points to it. Gordon Levitt takes the male action, hoping to build on his role in The Dark Knight Rises, however, as the poster alone atests to, he has about as much charisma in this as brown paper envelope. But, the biking sequences are nifty and the presentation of the GPS style routing across New York is fun and adds something to…

Nothing sums up Premium Rush's perfectly self-aware b-movie silliness than Michael Shannon's weasely New Yahwk cop villain Bobby Monday, a pathetic sleazebag with impulse control problems so bad his response to every situation is to either punch it or bet on it.

His brief monologue, which essentially sums up the movie's perfect mix of clever and absurd, is amazing:

"I don't really care for that term "douche bag." People throw it around like crazy these days, like it's suddenly okay. You know what else people say now? "Suck it." I was watching TV the other night, 8:30, the middle of prime time. Kids could be watching. Guy says, "Suck it." Everybody's laughing. 'Ha, ha, ha!' How is that appropriate?"

David…