As a writer, David Koepp has been responsible for some of the biggest hits cinema has ever had to offer, with the script contributing to a laundry list of classics that includes Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and Spider-Man to name but three. For the most part, he hasn’t made anywhere near the same impact as a director, but 2012’s Premium Rush does at least comfortably rank as his finest behind-the-camera effort.
Sure, the competition isn’t exactly stiff given that Koepp has also helmed The Trigger Effect, Secret Window, Ghost Town, Mortdecai, and You Should Have Left, but the high concept and entertainingly preposterous chase thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt still soared thanks to a Certified Fresh 74 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, even if it flopped at the box office after failing to recoup the $35 million budget.
The storyline is as simple as it is silly, with Premium Rush all the better for it. Gordon-Levitt’s Will is a bike messenger named Wilee (yes, subtlety is not the order of the day) who runs afoul of Michael Shannon’s gloriously over-the-top corrupt cop, who threatens to inhale the scenery as he attempts to reclaim an envelope of unscrupulous cash before it falls into the wrong hands.
A decade after going flying over the handlebars and scraping the pavement from a commercial perspective, Premium Rush has gotten back in the saddle to make a mightily impressive dash up the streaming ranks. As per FlixPatrol, the supremely undervalued chase thriller has sped straight onto the HBO Max global Top 10, a resurgence that the lightweight but eminently exciting little flick deserves.