Premium Rush
Columbia Pictures
Rated PG-13 for violence, ethnic slurs and profanity.
Manhattan Serves As Backdrop For Adrenaline-Fueled Bike Thriller
Traffic is so congested in Manhattan nowadays that it’s hard to see that terminally-gridlocked terrain as a viable setting for high-octane chase scenes. Yet, that is precisely what we have in Premium Rush, an adrenaline-fueled adventure revolving around the derring-do of daring bike messengers who dart between cars and dodge pedestrians to make their deliveries.
At the film’s point of departure, we’re introduced to several staff members of a bonded company called Security Courier. Employee Of The Year Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a Columbia Law School graduate who prefers this liberating line of work to being stuck sitting behind a desk in a business suit every day.
Similarly, his gorgeous girlfriend, Vanessa (Dania Ramirez), sees it as a refreshing alternative to waiting tables in a restaurant. However, one hazard of the job for her is having to fend off the sleazy overtures of fellow messenger, Manny (Wolé Parks), and their equally-flirtatious dispatcher, Raj (Aasif Mandvi).
Nonetheless, this picture is more about non-stop action than romance, and the fun starts soon after Wilee accepts an assignment to transport an envelope designated “Premium Rush” from his alma mater to Chinatown ASAP. But before he even has a chance to leave campus, a gentleman (Michael Shannon) identifying himself as the Dean Of Students asks to take possession of the parcel.
Wilee’s suspicion is aroused when Dean Ackerman inexplicably goes ballistic in response to a polite explanation that it can only be handed over to the addressee. And that concern escalates to fear when the guy starts frothing at the mouth and gives hot pursuit by auto, running lights and driving against traffic.
The pedal-pushing protagonist gives the creep the slip, but the plot thickens further when he stops at the police station to report the attempted theft. There, he discovers that he’s on his own because Ackerman, lo and behold, is ostensibly a crooked police officer with a hidden agenda and a pecuniary interest in hijacking the package.
Unfolding like a compelling cross of Crank (2006) and 16 Blocks (2006), Premium Rush proceeds from this juncture forward at a breakneck pace that doesn’t give you a chance to pause and wonder whether what you’re watching is even credible. But nothing else matters when such an urgent rollercoaster ride, or should I say bike ride, manages to keep you on the edge of your seat for its dizzying duration.
The Big Apple as the backdrop for a Tour de Gridlock!
Excellent (4 stars)
In English and Mandarin with subtitles.
Running time: 91 minutes
The Revenant
Paladin/Lightning Entertainment
Rated R for graphic violence, pervasive profanity, drug use, sexuality and graphic nudity.
Deceased Vet Revived As Vigilante Vampire In Campy Horror Comedy
Second Lieutenant Bart Gregory (David Anders) was so full of life that it’s hard for his loved ones to believe that he actually died while serving his country in Iraq. Even after his body arrives back in the States, his girlfriend, Janet (Louise Griffith), still states that, “None of this seems real.”
At least the grieving gal found a shoulder to cry on in the dearly departed’s pal, Joey (Chris Wylde). And it’s not long before the two start sleeping together, since they couldn’t possibly predict what was about to happen next.
For, a month after Bart perished, he miraculously rises from the grave and returns to town where a nurse named Mathilda (Jacy King) snap-diagnoses that he must be a revenant, meaning a person who returns from the dead in corporeal form. She suggests that chopping off the zombie’s head is the only way to put his soul to rest permanently.
But the stupefied Joey can’t bring himself to finish off his buddy. Instead, against his better judgment, he takes the rejuvenated dude in as a roommate.
However, Bart soon begins exhibiting the ghoulish urge to drain humans of blood, since he’ll otherwise decompose and rot. Joey tries to suppress that evil impulse by holding up a crucifix and throwing holy water at him, but none of those traditional measures seem to work.
Given that the guy is going to sink his fangs into somebody’s neck anyway, the two eventually strike a compromise whereby Bart is allowed to roam around at night as a crime-fighting vigilante vampire. The rationale is that he can satiate his bloodlust while simultaneously cleaning the city’s streets of violent perpetrators.
Thus unfolds The Revenant, a campy horror comedy resting on a cleverly executed premise. Well-written with a talented cast operating on a modest budget, the entertaining picture’s primary flaw is that it drags on for about a half-hour past a perfectly plausible ending.
The scary movie that refused to die!
Very Good (3 stars)
Running time: 117 minutes
OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam’s Kapsules:
For movies opening August 31, 2012
Lawless (R for profanity, sexuality, nudity and graphic violence). Prohibition Era crime saga revisiting the real-life exploits of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers (Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke), a ruthless gang who ran a thriving moonshine operation in the mountains of Franklin County, Virginia where they crossed paths with a crooked Deputy Sheriff (Guy Pearce) demanding a cut of the take. With Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman and Mia Wasikowska.
The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure (G). Interactive kiddie flick in which the title characters’ (Malerie Grady, Stephanie Renz and Misty Miller) plans to throw a pal (Taras Los) a surprise birthday party go awry when their magical balloons float away. Ensemble includes Christopher Lloyd, Toni Braxton, Cloris Leachman, Cary Elwes, Jaime Pressly and Chazz Palminteri.
The Possession (PG-13 for violence and disturbing themes). Evil spirit horror flick about a couple’s (Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Dean Morgan) desperate effort to defeat the demonic force unwittingly unleashed on their family after their youngest daughter (Natasha Calis) bought an antique box at a neighborhood yard sale. Cast includes Madison Davenport, Grant Show and Agam Darshi.
The Ambassador (Unrated). Danish journalist Madds Brugger poses as a shady European diplomat in this shocking documentary exposing corrupt government officials openly trading in blood diamonds in the Central African Republic. (In Danish, English and French with subtitles)
Breathing (Unrated). Austrian actor-turned-director Karl Markovics makes his directorial debut with this eloquent character study of an incarcerated teenager’s (Thomas Schubert) effort to earn an early parole for good behavior by working in the morgue. With Karin Lischka, Georg Friedrich and Gerhard Liebmann. (In German and English with subtitles)
The Day (R for nudity, graphic violence and pervasive profanity). Post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller about an intrepid quintet’s 24-hour defense of the decimated planet against a horde of bloodthirsty predators. Starring Shawn Ashmore, Cory Hardrict, Ashley Bell, Michael Eklund and Dominic Monaghan.
The Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate (R for violence). Jet Li stars in this 3D remake of Dragon Gate Inn (1966), a martial arts adventure about an avaricious band of marauders’ search for buried treasure in the desert while hiding their true intentions by masquerading as ordinary citizens. Featuring Lunmei Kwai, Xun Zhou, Kun Chen and Yuchun Li. (In Mandarin with subtitles)
For A Good Time, Call… (R for profanity, drug use and graphic sexuality). Raunchy romantic romp revolving around a couple of cash-strapped roommates (Ari Graynor and Lauren Miller) who resort to phone sex to pay the rent on their pricey Manhattan apartment. Ensemble cast includes Seth Rogen, Mimi Rogers, Nia Vardalos and Justin Long.
The Good Doctor (PG-13 for crude sexuality, disturbing situations and mature themes). Orlando Bloom plays the title character in this psychological thriller about a recent med school grad who develops an unhealthy obsession with a pretty patient (Riley Keough) with a kidney infection. Supporting cast includes Taraji P. Henson (great-great niece of Matthew), Troy Garrity (son of Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden), Sorel Carradine (daughter of Keith), Jean St. James (mother of Martin Starr) and Michael Pena.
Joker (Unrated). Fantasy adventure about escapees from an insane asylum who established their own kingdom when their mental hospital was accidentally left off the map in the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. Starring Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Chitrangda Singh. (In Hindi with subtitles)
Little Birds (R for violence, sexuality, nudity, rape, drug and alcohol use, and pervasive profanity). Coming-of-age road drama about a couple of teenagers (Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker) who make a break from their humdrum hometown after meeting some cute older boys (Chris Coy, Carlos Pena and Kyle Gallner) from L.A. Cast includes Kate Bosworth, Leslie Mann and Neal McDonough.
Ornette: Made In America (Unrated). Reverential biopic chronicling the career of avant garde jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Includes appearances by Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, Jayne Cortez and Denardo Coleman.
The Tall Man (R for violence, profanity and terror). High attrition-rate horror flick about a rust belt ghost town where the town nurse (Jessica Biel) remains skeptical about rumors of disappearing children until her own son (Jakob Davies) vanishes into thin air in the middle of the night. With William B. Davis, Stephen McHattie and Jodelle Ferland.
