Premium Rush (2012)

I wasn't really in the mood to watch something weighty or dramatic after I binge-watched the first season of Arrow on Netflix.  I needed a palate cleanser, something lighter and more upbeat.  Premium Rush was just what I was looking for.  The only problem I have is that (because it is a burned copy) there are no subtitles during what appears to be a fairly critical conversation between Jamie Chung's and Henry O's characters.  I'll probably end up trying to find a cheap copy on Amazon at some point in the future.  Originally posted 06 Jan 13.    When you hear the synopsis, this movie doesn't sound like much.

Bike messenger Wiley (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) runs afoul of crooked cop Detective Monday (Michael Shannon) and has to race around New York City to deliver a letter.

But that leaves out the Chinese gangsters, a human trafficking plot, and tons of death.  Seriously, they must have killed 100 extras. 

Nima (Jamie Chung) wants to bring her son over from China and has paid a human smuggler $50,000 to do so.  The receipt has to be in the snakehead's hand by 7 p.m. so she gives it to Wiley to courier across town.  Detective Monday needs that money to pay off his gambling debts so he chases Wiley all across the city. 

A slight effort after his turns in The Dark Knight Rises and Inception, but I'll watch JGL in just about anything.  This is a fun, fast-paced movie with a likeable cast.