Premium Rush

Premium Rush - Dir. David Koepp (2012)

You can't refer to Joseph Gordon-Levitt as simply the kid from 3^rd Rock from the Sun. JGL has grown into one of the finest young actors working in Hollywood today. While he's displayed strong dramatic chops, he's recently become an unlikely action hero thanks to roles in Inception and The Dark Knight Rises. Gordon-Levitt doesn't have the imposing stature or the impressive physique of an Expendable, but his youthful looks and wiry frame serve him well in Premium Rush.

JGL is Wilee, like the coyote, as one character notes. However, he has more in common with the roadrunner as he zips around New York City on a fixed frame bicycle with no gears or brakes. His mottos in life are: "Brakes are death" and "Can't stop. Don’t want to…" Wilee is a former law school student who traded in his suit and tie to work as a bike messenger. He didn't do it for the money because he only makes eighty dollars on a good day. He's an adrenaline junkie and he loves the thrill of dodging the ever-perilous streets of NYC. Wilee's recklessness is part of the reason he was dumped by his beautiful co-worker Vanessa (Dania Ramirez).

Premium Rush opens in media res with Wilee flying through the air in slow motion before painfully crashing onto the asphalt. The narrative jumps back and forth chronologically as quickly as the bicyclists bob and weave through traffic. Wilee is hired by Vanessa's roommate, Nima (Jamie Chung), to deliver an envelope to Chinatown. That seems simple enough, except the envelope contains a marker worth $50,000. The money is supposed to buy safe passage for Nima's son and elderly mother from China to America. Instead, a crooked NYPD detective, Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), wants the cash to pay off his sizable gambling debts. He has a weakness for Pai Gow, of all things. To gum up the works further, Wilee has to contend with a cocky rival named Manny (Wolé Parks) and a determined bike cop (Christopher Place), who resembles the cartoon coyote in terms of misfortune and haplessness.

Premium Rush comes to us from writer/director David Koepp, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Kamps (Zathura). Koepp is a veteran of summer blockbusters and had a hand in everything from Jurassic Park to Spider-Man. His directorial efforts have been less ambitious with his last movie being the rom-com Ghost Town. Premium Rush is a relatively low-budget action pic with a silly concept ripped right out of the 80's. Indeed, the film is a throwback to Quicksilver and BMX Bandits. The camaraderie shared by bike messengers is emphasized and builds to a climax where everyone rallies to Wilee's aid. The screenplay is light on substance and heavy on style. Koepp utilizes GPS maps to detail the route. He also uses something nicknamed, "Bike-O-Vision," which is Wilee's version of Spider-Sense. Time freezes at an intersection as Wilee lays out each possible scenario. Koepp shoots on location with CGI used only to enhance practical effects. JGL didn't emerge unscathed as evidenced by an outtake in which the actor required 30 stitches in his arm after crashing into the rear windshield of a cab.

The chase sequences themselves are exciting. There's a race through Central Park and a reference to The French Connection. Wilee also performs some wicked stunts during a daring escape from a police impound lot.

Gordon-Levitt anchors the movie and Dania Ramirez exudes a sweaty sexiness as she pumps her pedals across town. However, the best performance belongs to Michael Shannon in all his wide-eyed, menacing glory. It's the type of villainous turn you'd expect from Christopher Walken or Willem Dafoe. Film geeks will hear Shannon name drop Forrest J. Ackerman as an alias.

Premium Rush moves at a breakneck speed and doesn't aspire to be anything more than 90 minutes of pure fun.

Rating: *** (*****)

American Reunion

American Reunion - Dirs. Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (2012)

In 1999, American Pie was a smash hit thanks to an assortment of lowbrow gags that have become ensconced into pop culture consciousness. Movie fans will never forget the sight of Jason Biggs humping a warm apple pie or the shapely Shannon Elizabeth stripping to her undies. Universal certainly raked it in as the film made over $235 million worldwide off a scant $11 million budget. The studio was quick to strike while the iron was hot with two sequels and a string of direct-to-video spinoffs with Eugene Levy as the only original cast member. After nine years since the last Pie picture was released theatrically, Universal resurrects the franchise with American Reunion.

Jim (Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are happily married with a son, but find it difficult to be intimate with one another. Following in the tradition of its predecessors, Reunion opens with the hapless Jim caught in an embarrassing situation as he attempts to pleasure himself. The couple hopes that their upcoming thirteenth high school reunion will give them a chance to reignite the flame. By the way, I know tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth anniversary reunions are a thing, but the thirteenth doesn't seem that big a deal. In any event, Jim is excited to see all his old buddies again. His plans are crimped when he has to fend off the amorous advances of Kara (Ali Cobrin), a high school senior he once babysat.

Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has become a successful architect and a slightly domesticated husband. Oz (Chris Klein) is now an NFL analyst for a cable sports network with a young supermodel girlfriend in Mia (Katrina Bowden). He's also the butt of a few jokes for his appearance on a Dancing with the Stars-type reality show. Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) dropped off the radar, but returns just in time with tales of traveling the world. Then, there's Stifler (Seann William Scott), who the others have been trying to avoid because he hasn't changed much.

Nearly everyone from the first film has returned in some small fashion with John Cho & Justin Isfeld as the MILF Guys, Chris Owen as the Sherminator, Natasha Lyonne as Jessica, and Shannon Elizabeth as Nadia. They are joined by new cast members Dania Ramirez, as a former band geek turned hottie, and Rebecca De Mornay (who still looks stunning at 52) as Finch's Mom.

The reins of the franchise have been handed off to Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the writers behind the Harold & Kumar series. If anyone knows potty humor, it's them. However, the jokes just aren't funny or as outrageous as previous installments or even movies like 21 Jump Street or Knocked Up. Time has just passed them by. We get the requisite boob shots when Jim is forced to sneak an unconscious and naked Kara into her house without her parents knowing. Another prominent gag finds Stifler defecating into a cooler.

This wouldn't be too much of a problem if the character moments had any semblance of depth. Poor Thomas Ian Nicholas generally gets the short end of the stick as the writers struggle to find anything interesting for his character. In a rehash of American Pie 2, Kevin has an awkward encounter with his ex, Vicky (Tara Reid). Oz goes through the same thing with his former flame, Heather (Mena Suvari). These storylines highlight just how terribly written the female characters are in Reunion. They are either thinly drawn lovesick girls or nymphomaniac party skanks with the exception of Alyson Hannigan, who really deserves better. The one B-story that yields some fruit belongs to Levy as Jim's Dad, who looks to get back into the singles game following the death of his wife. He winds up romancing the original MILF, Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge).

As Thomas Wolfe once wrote, "You can't go home again." The central theme of American Reunion is all about living in the present without looking back at the past through rose-colored lenses. If only the filmmakers took those same lessons to heart, then we wouldn't get this bland and humorless sequel that simply did not need to be made.

Rating: * ½ (*****)