Premium Rush (2012, USA)

Disclaimer – as a city cyclist, I really hate the type of urban riding on display in Premium Rush. Bikers, whether messengers or commuters, who ride into intersections against lights and cause drivers and pedestrians to freak out make a bad name for all of us. And the last thing urban riders really need is more drivers who seem like they’re out to get them.

Premium Rush is a dumb-fun B-movie with one big asset – Michael Shannon. Joseph Gordon-Levitt may get first billing, but Shannon’s the star here, and director David Koepp wisely spends equal time with his cop villain as with his messenger hero. As an actor, one of Shannon’s most enviable skills is his lack of pandering to questionable material. He may be playing a rote baddie in a late-August release about hotshot bike messengers, but he might as well be playing to the Academy (his comedic twist on the character reads more as an inspiration than a stunt). The stunt riding – particularly the low-angle stuff – is fun, and Gordon-Levitt acquits himself well as usual, but Premium Rush is Shannon’s show, and the movie’s smart enough to know it.