Premium Rush ends the summer film fare at too high a speed and too repetitive a visual package. The idea of letting the viewer in on a sub-sub culture of Manhattan by focusing on the intrepid and perilous journeys of bike messengers seems unique and fascinating, at first. After appreciating Joseph Gordon-Levitt's (The Dark Knight Rises, 50/50) agility and endurance over and over, supplanting the usual movie car chases, one unfortunately tires of weaving in and out of traffic with him, in spite of his ability to foresee possible death traps and evade them. The inside world of bike messengers is simply used as a prop for this breakneck action/thriller.

Director/writer David Koepp, known for his screenplays of Mission Impossible, Spider-Man, and Jurassic Park, pares down his characters considerably in order to put everyone on a bicycle to face the perils of the urban streets. Gordon-Levitt's character, Wilee, is charged with making a last run of the day, a "premium rush" to a Chinatown destination. The envelope he is entrusted with naturally leads him on the ride of his life, and involves his romantic interest, the equally-toned bike messenger Vanessa (Dania Ramirez: American Reunion, X Men: The Last Stand) and muscular competitor, Manny (Wolé Parks: TV actor from Law & Order, As The World Turns). All three actors seem well trained to negotiate, even with possible stunt doubles, much of the street flights, and their occasional chatter doesn't interfere with their cycling.

Michael Shannon (Bad Boys II, TV's Boardwalk Empire), who plays Detective Bobby Monday, a dirty cop with a gambling problem, doesn't need to be as physically fit, because he chases Wilee in his car. He makes up for his non-cycling role by stomping around in all of his scenes and blasting his voice, even in close-ups, as though he's desperately trying to reach the person in the last row of the theater.

Shannon might be overcompensating for the plot, which quickly thickens into a bland stew of elements. The bicyclists' speed is the only thing that stirs everything up. Like bicycle accidents, the coincidences pile up, too, like when Vanessa's roommate, Nima (Jamie Chung: Sucker Punch, The Hangover Part II), not identified at first, starts off the race by giving Wilee the dreaded envelope; this later proves essential to the conclusion. A bike cop collides with Wilee all over the city. Detective Monday also magically appears at every crucial location. Isn't he held up in traffic? He wants the envelope because it proves to contain his ticket out of gambling debts.

Wilee's almost-romance with Vanessa is glazed over while they push on to save themselves and the envelope from getting into the wrong hands. After tons of close calls, including bicyclists' being repeatedly sent flying (with miraculously few injuries), and Wilee's repeating his line, "No brakes...Brakes are death," the viewer becomes inured to the near-calamitous dashes. Even the urgent appearance of the "cavalry" of bike messengers near the end regrettably disappoints and even breaks down the crescendo of the film's up-tempo rhythm.

Let's just say that even though a little boy's precious reunion with his mother is involved, the churning rush overrides any human crisis. Premium Rush remains a forgettable ride, except for a few of the awe-inspiring bike runs whose riders outwit the ever-skillful cab drivers on the turbulent streets of Manhattan.

Rated PG-13

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