Next month, we are going to see the first action movie out of Hollywood that features bike messengers as the main characters. Interestingly enough, when I first saw the preview in the movie theaters, I turned to my wife and said, “I bet you 10 bucks that Danny MacAskill is doing the stunts in this one.” Sure enough…he is…so there should be some amazing trials bike work on the urban streets of New York City.
But…I would be interested to see what actual bike messengers in NYC think of this movie. Did they just take what they do for a living too mainstream? Did they cheapen up the fixie subculture by laying it over a pretty weak “you are going to die if you don’t do this” plot?
Regardless, it will probably include some incredible riding even if the acting and subplot is lacking. For that alone…it might be worth watching. Check out the trailer and let us know what you think.
Dodging speeding cars, crazed cabbies, open doors, and eight million cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work for Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best of New York’s agile and aggressive bicycle messengers. It takes a special breed to ride the fixie — super lightweight, single-gear bikes with no brakes and riders who are equal part skilled cyclists and suicidal nutcases who risk becoming a smear on the pavement every time they head into traffic.
But a guy who’s used to putting his life on the line is about to get more than even he is used to when a routine delivery turns into a life or death chase through the streets of Manhattan. When Wilee picks up his last envelope of the day on a premium rush run, he discovers this package is different. This time, someone is actually trying to kill him.
I founded Bike198 back in 2008 and started riding bikes seriously in 1994. A lot has changed since that time and one of the greatest releases is still getting out on the bike and shredding trail or tearing up the road.
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