I haven’t seen a bicycle messenger movie this good since Quicksilver!  Actually, that 1986 Kevin Bacon film wasn’t very good, so Premium Rush certainly qualifies as the best bicycle messenger movie I have ever seen.

Much of the rush of Premium Rush comes from the startling camerawork that follows these daredevil messengers as they sprint through Manhattan traffic, narrowly missing open car doors, straggling pedestrians and aggressive cabbies.  I could not count how many traffic laws were broken in virtually every delivery scene, and, having driven in this traffic and seen how seemingly reckless such messengers can be, the movie is a visual testament to an urban version of extreme sports.

There is also a story taking place, and that is pretty compelling, too.  A crooked cop (Michael Shannon, portraying a man on the edge yet again) is after a delivery worth a lot of money, being carried by New York City’s most celebrated messenger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).  The chase scenes are impressive, but I enjoyed their ongoing rivalry even more.  At one point Shannon has Gordon-Levitt cornered in an ambulance, and takes the time to tell him how much everyone in NYC hates the bicycle messengers. That moment is so true that it really deepens the scene.  The movie has other nice moments like that, all delivered by writer-director David Koepp.

Despite some lapses in logic or character motivation — why does the Chinese guy tell the cop about the ticket?, why doesn’t Wilee believe in brakes? — this is a fast-paced, exciting, fun chase movie.  It’s a movie rather than a film, and accepted on that level, it’s well worth watching.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  31 August 2012.