PREMIUM RUSH (unofficial Kid with a Bike sequel)

Started by polkablues, August 24, 2012, 08:54:09 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: polkablues on August 27, 2012, 05:17:36 PMI will defend this movie to my last breath.

Why didn't he change his red shirt? Or just take it off?

polkablues

There's no time to change shirts! He has no brakes, for god's sake! Can't stop! Don't want to! No brakes!
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Jeremy Blackman

Okay, fair enough. Another question.

SPOILERS

The Asian godfather tells Nima that the ticket represents money, and that anyone in possession of it can claim said money. This is why Corrupt Detective is after it. A ridiculous premise, but fine, I'll accept it. I'm willing to engage with a movie on its own terms, especially if those terms are so clearly laid out.

So when Wilee turns in the ticket, is he given a cash-filled briefcase? No, because the ticket does not represent money. It represents something very specific, apparently, but definitely not that.

If Wilee walks in with the ticket, they instantly make a call to let Nima's son board a boat. But if Corrupt Detective walks in with the ticket, they give him cash?

polkablues

Okay, let's see if I'm remembering this right. The guy that gave the ticket to Nima was essentially a broker, a middle-man between her and the smugglers who were going to get her son to the US. The ticket only represented money in the sense that it was a receipt, or a proof of purchase. Delivered to Sister Chen, it meant the transaction was completed and the order was made to let the son on the boat, because Sister Chen could then have brought the ticket back to the broker and received the payment. If delivered directly back to the broker, as the detective would have done, it would have signified a cancelling of the transaction, the son wouldn't have been allowed on the boat, and the detective would have been given the money that Nima originally paid for the ticket, which he then would have given to the loan sharks to settle his debt. It's basically just an escrow system.
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Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: polkablues on February 12, 2016, 01:49:11 PM
Okay, let's see if I'm remembering this right. The guy that gave the ticket to Nima was essentially a broker, a middle-man between her and the smugglers who were going to get her son to the US. The ticket only represented money in the sense that it was a receipt, or a proof of purchase. Delivered to Sister Chen, it meant the transaction was completed and the order was made to let the son on the boat, because Sister Chen could then have brought the ticket back to the broker and received the payment.

I'm with you so far...

Quote from: polkablues on February 12, 2016, 01:49:11 PMIf delivered directly back to the broker, as the detective would have done, it would have signified a cancelling of the transaction, the son wouldn't have been allowed on the boat, and the detective would have been given the money that Nima originally paid for the ticket, which he then would have given to the loan sharks to settle his debt. It's basically just an escrow system.

So the detective is allowed to cancel Nima's transaction? Why? The broker tells Nima to call if she runs into any trouble. Which she does.

I thought the detective went to the flower shop or whatever to retrieve and cash in the ticket. (Because the broker literally said anyone can now turn this in for cash, "this is now money" etc.) Was the detective instead going to take it back to the broker? The broker whose henchman was after him?!

This is the paradox. The ticket is suddenly free-floating currency, and the broker essentially says it's out of his hands now. But he also tells Nima to call if she runs into trouble. Can they really have it both ways? How can this ticket be both a viable target of theft and be protected by the broker?

I would have loved this ending: The detective turns the ticket in to Sister Chen, and she's like okay cool, Nima's son is good to go. Thanks for making the delivery.

polkablues

Bear in mind it's been over three years since I've seen this movie. Also bear in mind it's a sublimely dumb movie, and we're probably giving more thought to this plot point right now than the filmmakers ever did.
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03

no no no, keep going. this is super entertaining.
edit: i'm now doing y'alls voices out loud reading this out. its pretty awesome.

polkablues

Okay. I don't remember what the detective's plan was. Was he taking it to the broker, or to the loan shark? Either way, whoever ends up with the ticket gets to redeem it for the money. It's like dry-cleaning. It doesn't matter if they're your clothes, if you bring in the claim ticket, you get to walk out with them.

I have no idea about the broker sending the henchman after the detective. That does seem inconsistent. But even the greatest movies have massive plot holes. Like how there was no one near Charles Foster Kane to be able to hear him say "Rosebud." Am I saying that Premium Rush is the Citizen Kane of bike courier crime thrillers? Yes. I'm saying exactly that. Cue music.

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Jeremy Blackman

The broker does indeed send his own henchman after the detective to protect Nima's purchase. (We even get like two close-ups of this henchman so we remember him.) The broker also gives Nima the distinct impression that she's screwed if she loses it. So yeah, I think this is a contradiction the movie can't get around.

One possible semi-solution is that you can bring the ticket to that place and give it to one person to receive cash, and another person to free Nima's son. How Wilee or the detective would know how to choose is beyond me. But it's possible they did. Absolutely none of this is actually in the film.

It's a fun movie, though. I almost turned it off a few minutes in, because I realized I was supposed to be on board with these crazy cyclists who I would happily run over in real-life. But the movie leaned into that so hard that I was sold.

I absolutely love the post-credit scene, where Wilee gleefully rides through an intersection and causes a horrifying accident that's only briefly seen on-screen. The movie is 100% a cartoon.

Edit: OMG Jenkins just posted it! There you go.

polkablues

My house, my rules, my coffee