3 out of 5

Bobby: If you don't give over that envelope, you have no idea what's coming for you.

Premium Rush is a nice little chase film. Other than the original concept of a chase movie with bikers being chased on their bikes, there is nothing more than adequately remarkable here. Thankfully though, the chase scenes are entertaining and the performances by Joseph Gordon Levitt and Michael Shannon are spot on.

Vanessa: [yelling at a cab driver] Hey Jersey, you wanna move your fat ass?
Wilee: You know how sexy you are when you talk like that?

This is a very goofy movie. Levitt plays a New York City bike messenger who is a thrill seeker and uses no breaks and speeds through traffic as fast as he can. How does he stop? Well, the same way you would stop if you were on ice skates of course; also known as a hockey stop. He sort of turns the bicycle sideways until the side of the tires slide against the ground bringing the bike to a halt. Again he does this every day repetitively, while on shift. Sure he can get new tires, but tires can get expensive if you're buying them weekly, or maybe the service he works for gives him them for free, but either way, he has never gotten seriously injured ever while doing this. Oh, and Levitt's character's name is Wilee, like Wilee Coyote. Can you see where I'm coming from now when I say this movie is goofy?

Wilee: I like to ride. Fixed gear. No brakes. Can't stop. Don't want to, either.

Michael Shannon plays the villain here. Out of all the characters in movies who's eyes open ridiculously wide when angry or show any kind of extreme emotion, Michael Shannon from Premium Rush belongs up on that list with Mel Gibson from Lethal Weapon and Nick Cage from Vampire's Kiss.

Bobby: Are you negotiating?
Wilee: Count on it!

Somewhere near the third act the film tries to establish some heart which it failed miserably at and bored me. The reason I only discuss how cool the action and performances are in this movie is because they are really the only things that drive the film. They were all so cool that it was enough for me to recommend Premium Rush.

Wilee: Sometime or another we all get hit... Sometimes we gotta hit back.