Push

Earlier this spring, Push came and went from theaters remarkably swiftly -- a pity, because while Paul McGuigan's sci-fi/conspiracy/action film may not be perfect, it's got a lot going for it. Written by David Bourla, Push may not have a big budget, but it's got big ideas -- or, more importantly, the judgment, too often absent from Hollywood films, to know how small things can be big. Start with the premise: Push follows a group of psychics, being pursued by various government entities in the hunt for the film's great whatsit plot device in Hong Kong. The psychics, though, can each only do one interesting thing -- no crazy quilt of paranormal abilities: Just one. So, sure, it's nice to be able to see the future, but that's not much help when a gun's pointed at your head, Or maybe you're a telekinetic who can move objects with your mind, but that's not much good when the person chasing you can make you do anything they want with their mind. ...

And as anyone who ever wondered why Superman didn't just whip Lex Luthor silly in an eyeblink (or, more bluntly, had the misfortune of watching an episode of Heroes) knows, stories about people with infinite power are boring, and hard to write in a way that makes them interesting; the heroes and heroines of Push, though, are gifted but not invulnerable, powerful but not all-powerful. Chris Evans is a telekinetic trying to live under the radar in Hong Kong; Dakota Fanning, who can see and draw the future, enlists him in finding a missing vial of a new drug -- like steroids for psychic abilities -- that Division, the quasi-governmental bad guys, with their own psychics in play, are hunting.

But good ideas die and wither on the vine without performances, and Push is very lucky to have both a real actor and a real movie star to bolster it. Fanning's sassy seer is a bit of a know-it-all, but when you think about it, she actually does know it all, or at least kinda know what happens next, and Fanning captures the exasperation you might feel if you spent a lot of time waiting around for other people to catch up with the future you've seen whether nailing a laugh line or making you buy an emotional moment, Fanning gives the part bite and snap in unexpected ways. And Evans is a big-screen action hero waiting to happen -- resolute, bold, constantly professing he's no good at being noble but, when telekinetic push comes to telepathic shove, more than capable of digging deep to save the day. Evans has been good in good films, but, more tellingly, he's been good in bad films (see the Fantastic Four films - or, if you can, actually, don't), and like all great action heroes he both takes a beating exceptionally well and still manages to swagger even while he's limping.

The supporting cast work remarkably well to populate McGuigan's hybrid vision of a world somewhere between the X-Men movies and the Bourne films. Mad Men's Maggie Siff is a healer with ill intent; Djimon Honsou is a suitably glowering bad guy; Nate Mooney is the psychic equivalent of a radar jammer with an eye on the next payday, while Cliff Curtis is an illusion-casting trickster. Camilla Belle is the mind-controller whose escape starts the plot off, and while Belle is a good actress, she's curiously stiff and bland here; she's a lynchpin of the plot, but your gaze just slips off her every time she's on screen.

But all thing considered, Push is diverting enough to get past the occasional flat note, whether that's Bell's performance or a slightly-too-complicated third act. Part of that is, for me, my weakness for genre material like this -- you tell me a film's a glossy, Hong Kong set mash-up of Scanners and The X-Files and I'm gonna sit up in my seat, a little. But that comparison holds; the special effects are inventive, the conspiracy stuff is enough to propel the film forward, and the camerawork and effects are kept satisfyingly matter-of-fact to help the film feel just one step left from the real world. The DVD extras are excellent -- or, rather, while there's a few deleted scenes and a 10-minute look at the science behind the science fiction, the commentary by McGuigan, Evans and Fanning is fun and informative, and as diverting as the film itself. Push feels like it has the set-up for a sequel baked in to the finale, but by the time that happened, that was a prospect I was looking forward to instead of dreading. Push isn't great action moviemaking, but it's very good action movie making with a style and charm and approach that rips off a dozen other films but still somehow feels fresh.

Comments

[Miah]

I really enjoyed this movie and saw it twice in the theaters. I really do hope they make a sequel and finish the story more completely, but I do have my doubts... I heard it didn't do so well in the box office.

[*kristYn from CALI*]

i got to see a sneak preview of this last summer at comic con... i was *super* excited to see this in theaters, but sadly it came and went before i had even realized...

it looked great (i'm kinda sorta a major sci-fi geek...), but i had a feeling it wasn't going to do so well at the box office :(

butttt i guess i need to go rent this now...

and knowing.

[ANNA]

Pretty good movie it reminded me of Jumper alot though

[Rob Drapeau]

That was a very well-written review. "...your gaze just slips off her" is exactly right. "...baked into the finale" is also good.

Kudos.

[jessica from atlanta]

Yeah Jumper a lot. but it was good...and i like heroes.

[Razor]

The premise was exciting enough...but not much substance behind it. It was just as predictive as "Lollypop girl"(see the movie). With that said, it's worth the rent to see a movie that doesn't really on Christian folklore like many other movies before it...and after it.

[jojo]

I enjoyed the movie. Sometimes it's just nice to forget all the ratings and just relax and let the movie unfold. It wasn't boring and I really liked watching Fanning's and Evan's characters unfold. The girl friend was just so so however. I agree wholeheartedly with your review of her. Other characters are much more fun to watch.

[Daniel]

I enjoyed this movie because it had small budget, simple plot line and nice special effects. Although the premise reminded me of "Jumper", I thought the direction and acting was much better (even though it probably had smaller budget). Dakota Fanning was well-cast as know-it-all ingenue that can see the future.

[wayne]

I had posted this on Facebook:

I rented the movie "Push", which was about these people with special 'abilities" who were being hunted by a secret government agency. It reminded me of the TV show "Heroes", except without the humor, pacing, wit, colorful locales, suspense, well-choreographed action, plot twists and good-looking actors. After about thirty-five minutes I was so bored I shut it down and turned to "Law & Order".

[Lisa]

I liked this movie although at times it was a little strange. I think it would have been better had they went into it a little more on how these people would up with their gifts of seeing the future and things to that nature.

[Kyle]

This movie is total garbage, and this review does not highlight it's mundane and confusing plot line, stupid twists, and horrible character development and acting. Bad movie, don't see it. Rent "Legend of the Bog," then you can laugh at a bad movie, not be disgusted by it.

[tim]

Dakota Fanning's character almost appeared to be that she had a school-girl crush on the older Chris Evans (who happens to have the body of an elite gymanst) . It also seemed like there was a rivalry between Fanning's character and Evan's girlfriend Camilla's character in the movie. It seemed as if this rivalry were meant to appeal to teen girls that Fanning's character was fighting against the older girl to spend time with Chris Evans character. And, they made Fanning look really jealous whenever Evans spent time with the older girl.

Other than that the movie did remind me of the whole X-Men movie series. People with special abilities are being tracked by government agents.

The best scenes were: Camilla's character escaping from the bathroom; the scene where Camilla takes control of the soldiers' minds and makes them shoot each other; and, of course the guys fighting scenes using telekinetic powers at the end of the movie.

Camilla's character was beautiful and interesting in that intense and dangerous way. She has really strange and interesting eyes to begin with. Couple that with the idea that her character uses her eyes to exert her mind control makes her fascinating to watch as the camera draws into her eyes and pupils dilating.

All in all the movie was a bit badly edited and chaotic in a confusing way. It was partially made up for by Camilla's interesting mind-control scenes and Evan's telekinetic shoving fighting scenes. It was a classic low-budget looking yet high adrenaline teen type of movie. It was definitely not in the same league as the X-Men movies as far as quality of script and camera and editing.

[vince]

This movie is exciting and worth watching....Seems that spoiled rotten couch potato critics dont get to appreciate that it is highly entertaining---it makes for a believable alternate world.'
Evidently --it is not Shakespeare material--but it can satisfy anyone interested in action fiction and manipulation of the future. Movies can rarely handle future tinkering as well.

[Lance]

I enjoyed the movie PUSH and have watched it two times in my home. I rented it from RedBox, but I am going to buy and add it to my movie collection. I really do hope they make a sequel because this was an awesome action fiction movie, period. The actors were very good, plot great, action was wanting you to watch more, film quality was super. Overall, PUSH was a great movie!

[Diana]

I was not a fan. I thought it focused to much on their powers and not enough on what they were fighting for.

[Jennifer]

I bought it and I love the movie.

[Deanna]

I really liked this movie. Like all other movies made now adays, the content of the movie is pulled from a variety of other movies, but I really liked it, and I think it had some orginality. I do reccommend this movie!!

[Charles]

sucks, couldn't pay attention long enough to know what was happening

[marval girl]

I thought it was great and a bargain at the redbox, i intend to buy it, it'll be a wonderfull addition to my sci-fi collection, the effecs were better then some high end movies ive seen.

[ashley]

Wow, so you love it or you hate it. Personally, I thought i was a great redbox find. Great review, you captured it perfectly. I think some people need to re-learn how to sit back and enjoy a movie. We aren't all paid to be critics.

[Dave]

"Push" was a surprisingly good action movie with an off-beat style and competent acting. The premise was hardly original but the film had enough going for it to compensate for its shortcomings, in my opinion.

[Eric Perez]

I thought this movie was nothing special, mediocre at best. The main character gets his but kicked throughout the whole movie, how is that for being a hero, he sucked at his abilities.

[Rhoda J Gainey]

PUSH didnt do well because it as just plain bad--I went to see it because of DAkota Fanning and was so disappointed. the continuity was atrocious--the "heros" didnt make contact with the ones who were supposed to benefit, the special effects were WAAAY overdone and lost all credibility--it could have been a good movie based on a similar pretext but with different direction--maybe it lost it in the cutting room.

Joann

[Howard]

Fell asleep twice trying to watch the first 25 minutes of the movie. Decided to push through and watch it just to see if it was worth it because the concept sounded cool. Oh my God! I've watched it twice now and I love this movie... maybe not like when the Matrix came out, but this movie is solid for anyone who loves sci-fi.

[Rhoda J Gainey]

To those who think they want to buy it--just wwait a few months it will be available for a dollar at 99 cents only stores.

I hesitate to go to movies made by the actors now in case they somehow had something to do with this box office bummer. What a waste of money!

Joann

[Bruce Bly]

Just returned this movie to my local redbox... and I was very impressed... three reasons... first, much of it seemed plausible, and reflects what I know of truly gifted psychics [except the bullet deflection thing, that seemed a bit much]... second the handheld camera work in the Hong Kong environment was visually stimulating and smartly used... it also gave a wonderful view of the local citizenry... and third, the plot (and screenplay) was well crafted... not too hurried, just moving along smoothly propelled by each characters evolving motivations... yup they managed to avoid most of the expected stereotypes and still make a great movie...

[bluesman]

i loved the movie! great story and content! i really hope they make a second to continue the story...

[Jay]

Though it had a few slow moments, overall I thought it was good. I agree whole-heartedly with your review though. I am looking forward to the sequel myself.

My only hope is that a greater depth will be presented in the film to come...maybe bring to centerstage the character of Fanning's famed mother. I could easily see her as the underdog. Perhaps set her up as an escapee who ends up drinking too much (thinking of the comical scene where Fanning uses her mother as an excuse to drink...after all, she was famous for it). Or at least bring everything full circle somehow. (I will gladly admit that I was a total sucker for the way the sequel to The Mummy tied everything together into a neat little package.)

[quie]

ya this was a great movie

[Courtney]

I loved this movies. I hate it that people don't give it the credit it deserves. I have watched it twice. I took it to my families house and they loved it too. I hope they make a sequel. It was a great action movie.

[G Rehfeld]

I was very disappointed in this movie. The premise promised so much more than the move delivered. I stuck it out to the end, even though I was bored before I got halfway through it. Sadly, the ending didn't save the movie - rather, it set it up for sequels! Please spare me.

[hatescifi]

I thought the whole idea of the movie was to help Fanning find her mom once they got the antedote...then the movie just ended. All this talk about how great her mom was supposed to be that you think they would have added a rescue into the plot at the end of the movie.

[Sandy Cieslinski]

My family was excited to get this movie, my 14 year old son left about 20 minutes into the movie stating it was to boring and the screaming guys totally ruined it for him. The rest of us watched it all the way through but wished we had just turned it off and saved the time for something better to do. Very boring.

[Emrick]

Mr Rocchi, You nailed this movie perfectly. I so wish I could express myself that way. Like you, I loved this movie. First of all, because I am a lover of sci-fi (not a fanatic!). Second, I love a gravelly looking cinematic feature. I only had one little problem with this movie. I think the Asian family was placed in the script strictly to add more of a challenge to the good guys. However, I did not feel like their presence in the film was justified strongly enough. Sure they were after the formula, but how did they get involved, and were they after it for themselves. Maybe they wanted to sell it as well? Therefore, I think the story line kind of lost its connection to the audience at times. With that said, I did enjoy this flick for the action, the actors, and its emotional appeal. I too am looking forward to a sequel for this film.

[Kate]

I really enjoyed this movie, but resent the comment about Heroes. Is it so hard to give a review without bashing unrelated works? Apparently so.

[Adam]

This is one of those movies where the thought was excellent but the implementation was slightly off. I put it in line with other movies and shows that I tend to get into, X-Men, Jumper, Heroes but with this movie I tried really hard to like it but I just found myself wanting so much more from it than what it delivered. The story line just seemed to be very dry and I've always said it's bad sign in a movie when they explain the movie with a voice over for the first 5 minutes instead of getting you involved and seeing it unfold. And if they were going to leave that much open at the end for a sequel I would have definitely built up the beginning more. Also I found myself waiting for Chris Evan's character to finally step up to be the mover that they built up that he would be. When he injected himself I thought to myself, alright the movie is going to get good now but nope, instead I just felt sorry for him getting tossed around like a rag doll and never really getting any better and I'm still not sure how he beat the other mover at the end. I felt the acting by Chris Evans and Camilla Bell was a little lacking in more than one scene. Also I found that the fact that Dakota Fanning was dressed like a 13 year old Japanese prostitue a little much.

[Julian]

I watched it last night. This movie is crap. A big waste of time.

[qsq]

this movie blows hard

[Tommy]

This movie was pretty good. It's like a china x-men.

[Livia]

I saw this film PUSH, it's weird, I didn't get it at all. It was completely boring and it had no plot. I see a lot of movies and this one was weird and Coraline was weird too. Heck, I've seen better films this year, no offense.