Premium Rush

Directed by David Koepp

(PG-13)

***

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There’s not much going on below the surface of this 90-minute bicycle-chase movie, but it’s still “an expert and spellbinding adventure,” said Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. “Any action formula can be brought to life with enough imagination and energy,” and that’s what impressive stunt work and computer-generated imagery help accomplish here. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a New York bike messenger hired to rush a high-payoff gambling ticket to Chinatown while avoiding a crooked cop (Michael Shannon) who has big debts to settle. Gordon-Levitt “typically plays a hipster charmer,” but he’s made himself a “more formidable presence” here, said Betsy Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. That allows him to hold his ground when playing against Shannon, whose twisted cop is “fearsome even at a distance.” To keep the action racing, director David Koepp resorts to a handful a visual gimmicks, said Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune. “Some of this is too fancy, too much.” But Premium Rush delivers “a crafty and well-told story” with great flair. It’s “the thinking person’s mindless entertainment.”