History Film / PremiumRush

* ADogNamedDog: A douchebag named Douchebag.

An action-thriller with a tongue-in-cheek approach to it's admittedly ridiculous premise, ''Rush'' wound up being something of an AcclaimedFlop, yet is slowly finding a cult audience.

* CarCushion: When Wilee's SherlockScan comes up with no safe route, a hard landing on a taxi's windshield is the least bad option. Fortunately for him it's not the usual high-altitude leap associated with this trope and he survives, though not without injury.

* MagicCountdown: It's a bit difficult to believe that Wilee could chase down Manny, get into a cross-town race to the wrong address, end up at the hospital for however long it takes to get his arm bandaged from the crash, get driven to the police impound, then ride all the way to the right address within 40 minutes.

* {{Jerkass}}: Monday and Manny, though the later is merely an off-putting jerk instead of a sociopath.

** To ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' of all things. Wilee (Wile-E) is sometimes called "the coyote man," a character seen for a moment is called Roadrunner, and Detective Monday is more or less doing an impersonation of an evil, less resourceful BugsBunny. [[FridgeBrilliance Bugs always lost when he was the aggressor, after all]].

The film follows bicycle messenger [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Wilee]] through the streets of Manhattan. During [[TitleDrop the titular premium rush]], Wilee ends up the target of a dirty cop ([[Creator/MichaelShannon Robert Monday]]) hell-bent on taking [[MacGuffin the mysterious envelope]] he is delivering.

** To ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' of all things. Wilee (Wile-E) is sometimes called "the coyote man," a character seen for a moment is called Roadrunner, and Detective Monday is more or less doing an impersonation of an evil, less resourceful BugsBunny. Bugs always lost when he was the aggressor, after all.

* ActorAllusion: It isn't the first time Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in a movie constantly [[Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer switching back and forth in time]].

* HeyItsThatGuy: Broadway veteran Aaron Tveit has a small role as a student. And no, sadly, he doesn't burst into song.

* BystanderSyndrome: Within New York's {{Chinatown}}s, Bobby has relatively free rein to dish out violent intimidation while the rest of the public look on. Justified as it's implied that a large proportion of the population are illegal immigrants who refuse to bring attention on themselves, as well as being cowed into non-activity by the men running the Chinese gambling dens. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, that door swings both ways.]]

* UnreliableNarrator: Wilee, in his opening narration, says that his bike cannot coast--seconds after coasting on his bike.
** Wilee is not actually coasting. The rear wheel isn't moving and it's actually acting as a brake, slowing him down.

* BavarianFireDrill: Subverted. Whenever Monday presents himself as anything other than {{NYPD}}, the person being conned either sees straight through it (in Nima's case) or refuses his demands (in Wilee's case).

* ChewToy: That poor bike-patrol officer. Every time he tries to give chase to the protagonist, he always ends up slightly more injured up than before, until he quits at the end of the movie. Even though Wilee is being forced to evade Monday's increasingly deranged attempts to get his cargo, Wilee is still breaking traffic laws and putting himself and those around him in danger, including pedaling into oncoming traffic.

* EscalatingChase: Hoo boy. And is it awesome.

* PoliceBrutality: NYPD officer Bobby Monday liberally dishes this out on anyone who crosses him. Other officers, however, are only doing their jobs, including the irritated bike cop who tries but fails every time to reprimand Wilee when he breaks traffic laws trying to escape from Bobby.

* RageQuit: That poor Bike Cop has had enough of Wilee's antics once Wilee steals his police bicycle.

The film follows bicycle messenger [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Wilee]] through the streets of Manhattan. During [[TitleDrop the titular premium rush]], Wilee ends up the target of a dirty cop ([[MichaelShannon Robert Monday]]) hell-bent on taking [[MacGuffin the mysterious envelope]] he is delivering.

* BettyAndVeronicaSwitch: While it starts off with Manny being the reliable guy who drives Vanessa around and (rightfully) points out how dangerous Wilee's bike is and Wilee being the guy who dropped out of law school and rides around New York City at top speed without brakes, Manny is further revealed to be a {{Jerkass}} and Wilee [[HeroicResolve doesn't hesitate for a second]] to help Nima out once he realizes [[spoiler:it's her kid on the line]].

* ChewToy: That poor bike-patrol officer. Every time he tries to give chase to the protagonist, he always ends up slightly more injured up than before, until he quits at the end of the movie. Even though Wilee is being forced to evade Bobby Monday's increasingly deranged attempts to get his cargo, Wilee is still illegally breaking traffic laws and putting himself and those around him in danger, including pedaling into oncoming traffic.

* IronicEcho: After being called a douchebag [[ItMakesSenseInContext in the back of an ambulance]], Det. Monday goes on a rant about the vulgarity of the younger generation. In it, he mentions a guy who said "Suck it!" on TV and points out that [[ThinkOfTheChildren little kids might have been watching]]. No points for guessing what Wilee says after Bobby gets OutGambitted.
* {{Jerkass}}: Bobby and Manny.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Bobby boasts that he could murder Wilee in public while in the middle of a Chinatown slum, and no one would testify against him. Chinese gangsters murder Bobby not long after, and no one bats an eyelash.]]
* MacGuffin: The ticket. [[spoiler:It's a receipt for $50,000 to pay for the illegal immigration of Nima's son and mother.]]

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain
** Monday refers to Nima with the racial slur "slope" in the back of the ambulance with Wilee.
** The sentence Monday spoke [[spoiler:right before taking a fatal bullet to the back of his head]] was a threat containing the word "zipperheads" directed at a crowd of Chinese gangsters.

* TitleDrop: When Raj get's Nima's call and he and Wilee fight over who's taking the drop:

* ThrowTheDogABone: Considering the ButtMonkey status of the bike cop, he at least manages to catch one of the people he's chasing when he makes an impressive tackle of Manny.

* HairTriggerTemper: NYPD officer and antagonist, Bobby Monday, whose [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pai_Gow Pai Gow]] addiction and temper have gotten him in deep with Chinatown gamblers. For instance, after one of Mr. Lin's enforcers knocks out one of his teeth, [[spoiler:Monday smashes his face into a truck grill, causing fatal injuries]]. The enforcers were simply roughing him up for losing all his money that he borrowed for another gambling trip. This becomes the impetus for his later downfall.

* [[spoiler:PrettyLittleHeadshots: To Monday. The entrance wound is barely visible and he can barely see the exit hole because it's covered by his hair... until it start bleeding.]]

* RageQuit: That poor Bike Cop has had enough of Wilee's antics once he steals his police bicycle.

* SmugSnake: A smirking self-satisfied BigBadWannabe, Officer Monday equates being a dirty cop with being an unbeatable {{Badass}}, even in situations where he is clearly at a disadvantage (like being surrounded by Chinese gangsters intent on killing him).