Push (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
A group of young American expatriates with special abilities race to find a brainwashed girl in Hong Kong in 'Push', directed by Paul McGuigan. What are some of these abilities, and who possesses them? Well ... 'watchers' predict the future. 'Movers' shift items with their minds. 'Pushers' change the thoughts of others. 'Shifters' change the appearance of things. 'Wipers' erase memories. And 'Stitchers' heal people. Only a small portion of the population possesses these abilities (telekinesis, clairvoyance, telepathy). So the government has set-up a department to weaponize them; nice, huh? A faction called 'The Company' is working on a drug to enhance the mental abilities of some of these special people, but there's a huge problem ... everyone injected with the drug has died. All … save one.
Her name is Kira (Camille Belle), a 'pusher'. Having survived the experiment & escaped, Kira is now on the run. She is, however, being pursued the malevolent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), a 'pusher' in charge of the clandestine experiment/project. Kira's side of the story intersects with that of her former boyfriend, 'mover' Nick (Chris Evans), who's had his own run-ins with Carver. Nick is tagging along with 13 yr. old Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a 'watcher' who's desperate to free her mom from government custody. The 2 stories merge & the 3 characters meet in Hong Kong where they become involved in a hectic race against Carver, his men, & a crime gang to see who can capture a sample of the ability enhancer drug. Having been brainwashed, can Kira regain her memory & see Nick for who he really is? Can they all band together & maximize their talents to defeat their foes & escape from the government agency forever?
'Push' is not a very good movie, though it does have some positives. For one, it's a relentlessly-paced film. Even though it tries desperately to take you into the realm of boredom, because of its pace, there's very little time for you to get bored. The pace also numbs you to the creaky, flawed plot that's flying by, as well; a nice distraction. Something else that works well is the non-linearity of the plot. It's stupid, but dense (as opposed to stupid & hollow). We meet various characters at various times & learn more about them as the movie hopscotches around in time. This made the proceedings somewhat unpredictable; a good thing. I mean, the 'pushers' in this movie are so much more interesting than any other type of person because they can influence the minds of the characters; forcing them to question (throughout) their relationships with other people. Lots of gray areas (of who is good & who is bad). Think X-Men ... but far inferior in execution.
Now, for the problems. There are too many subplots going on (and the film is not long to begin with). This muddled the proceedings, & I don't understand what they lent to the story other than confusing matters. One of my biggest gripes is with the performances. I am one of the few Dakota Fanning supporters that I know of. But she's absolutely awful here. The script calls for her, at age 13, to curse, drink, & shoot guns ... but she does it all unconvincingly. And even in the slower, expositional scenes, she's horrid; as if this were her 1st movie. Chris Evans isn't as awful, but he acts with none of the charisma & energy that he usually has. It's like he (and everyone else) were bored with the movie they were making. I liked the ending of the film (and not just because it was the ending). But 'Push' is just a flimsy, convoluted, straight-to-DVD quality popcorn flick that teases the mind into thinking that it's better than it actually is.
Her name is Kira (Camille Belle), a 'pusher'. Having survived the experiment & escaped, Kira is now on the run. She is, however, being pursued the malevolent Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou), a 'pusher' in charge of the clandestine experiment/project. Kira's side of the story intersects with that of her former boyfriend, 'mover' Nick (Chris Evans), who's had his own run-ins with Carver. Nick is tagging along with 13 yr. old Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a 'watcher' who's desperate to free her mom from government custody. The 2 stories merge & the 3 characters meet in Hong Kong where they become involved in a hectic race against Carver, his men, & a crime gang to see who can capture a sample of the ability enhancer drug. Having been brainwashed, can Kira regain her memory & see Nick for who he really is? Can they all band together & maximize their talents to defeat their foes & escape from the government agency forever?
'Push' is not a very good movie, though it does have some positives. For one, it's a relentlessly-paced film. Even though it tries desperately to take you into the realm of boredom, because of its pace, there's very little time for you to get bored. The pace also numbs you to the creaky, flawed plot that's flying by, as well; a nice distraction. Something else that works well is the non-linearity of the plot. It's stupid, but dense (as opposed to stupid & hollow). We meet various characters at various times & learn more about them as the movie hopscotches around in time. This made the proceedings somewhat unpredictable; a good thing. I mean, the 'pushers' in this movie are so much more interesting than any other type of person because they can influence the minds of the characters; forcing them to question (throughout) their relationships with other people. Lots of gray areas (of who is good & who is bad). Think X-Men ... but far inferior in execution.
Now, for the problems. There are too many subplots going on (and the film is not long to begin with). This muddled the proceedings, & I don't understand what they lent to the story other than confusing matters. One of my biggest gripes is with the performances. I am one of the few Dakota Fanning supporters that I know of. But she's absolutely awful here. The script calls for her, at age 13, to curse, drink, & shoot guns ... but she does it all unconvincingly. And even in the slower, expositional scenes, she's horrid; as if this were her 1st movie. Chris Evans isn't as awful, but he acts with none of the charisma & energy that he usually has. It's like he (and everyone else) were bored with the movie they were making. I liked the ending of the film (and not just because it was the ending). But 'Push' is just a flimsy, convoluted, straight-to-DVD quality popcorn flick that teases the mind into thinking that it's better than it actually is.