Push (2009)
The action packed sci-fi thriller involves a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities, hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency. They must utilize their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever.
I liked the concept behind this movie. I’m a sucker for unusual plots. The acting was pretty good. Some of the action scenes were good as well. The main action came from the Movers - throwing people around, deflecting bullets, destroying buildings, firing guns while not holding them, etc. I liked Cassie - she played the role of a child forced to be a grown-up very well. She had some funny parts. There are certainly some things I didn’t care for. Check out my full review at the URL below.
The feeling I had when I got out of this movie is hard to explain, but I will try. I had never really felt like that before. It was a feeling of being undecided. I knew Push was not terrible, but I also knew it was not that good either. And believe it or not, the movie went by fast and its actually almost 2 hours long. So it was not boring either. But let me explain the story and what I enjoyed and what I did not.
The story is a mixture of action and sci-fi. The characters in this movie can see the future, mess with your reality, and move objects or people with their mind. In the mix, there is Nick (Chris Evans) and Cassie (Dakota Fanning). Cassie knows about this briefcase and since she can see the future, she knows she’ll need Nick’s help. However, Carter (Djimon Hounsou) is in charge of this agency that also is looking for the briefcase. Carter plays a role in making these individuals have special powers, and he wants them to be weapons. Not people. All of these certain individuals with powers came from a project that went wrong. But some use their powers for good and others use them for evil.
It is tough to really gather what this movie is trying to do. It delivers on action and mixes sci-fi with it very well. The location of Tokyo is nice to look at. It is a good backdrop for the movie. However, the movie does not really do much with what it has. The characters are one-dimensional. The actors try and carry it, but the attempt is lost. You are never really given any answers to why these things are going on. Sure there is a race against time to find this briefcase and a lot of people are looking for it. But there is no back story for the chaos that is occurring. For a movie that is almost 2 hours long, hardly anything gets accomplished. It feels like the movie goes around in circles and comes out with the same outcome, but just 45 minutes later than it should have. Maybe if the movie was 1 hour and 30 minutes it would have been better. But I’m not quite sure about that either.
I saw "Push" the day after it was released into theaters which was on Saturday 02/07/09 and to tell you the truth I really like this movie because it reminded me of "Jumper" but with a fantastic four twist.The film is about these three people played by Chris Evans(The first two Fantastic Four films and Street Kings),Dakota Fanning(Man on Fire,Hide and Seek and War of the Worlds) and Camilla Belle(When a Stranger Calls) who have special powers which turn their minds into weapons and they must stop an agent played by Djimon Hounsou(Biker Boyz and Constantine) who wants to use their powers for global domination. This film was amazing and that scene when Dakota Fanning come stunbling in the hotel room drunk is too funny.The action sequences are pretty amazing just like the sequences in "Jumper". All in all,"Push" is a great sci-fi action adventure that should be seen on the big screen.
At The Movies
Push 14A * *
Director: Paul McGuigan
Stars: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Djimon Hounsou
Genre: Science Fiction
Studio: E1 Films
Audience Suitability: 14A
Rating: * *
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Release Date: Feb. 6, 2009
Shove It!
By ROBERT WALDMAN
Science Fiction has its legions of fans as a film form. Over the years special effects have come to play an ever increasing role in such spectacles. Out to capture a winning verdict among the sci-fi community is Push, a telling tale of danger and deceit from E1 Films and VK now shining a light at Scotiabank Theatre, Empire Studio 12, Colossus and Famous Players Silver City cites around B.C.
Set I guess in modern times, director Paul McGuigan (Gangster No. 1) takes us on a whirlwind tour concerning some secretive military organization linked to the United States. Where the science fiction element turns up involves some woman who has mysteriously escaped from a secretive government program linked somehow to experiments run by the Nazis. During the Third Reich Era Hitler engaged in practices to create a master race. Now, one could say, the chickens have come home to roost.
Under strict security a highly covert branch of the American military/intelligence arena has begun building these super human soldiers. Who ever controls them holds the key to untold power. Though we’ve all seen this story before where the supernatural element comes into play concerns those with the power, those wanting the power and the actual process that makes these guinea pigs so damn powerful.
Holding the key to the puzzle are a little girl, a grown man, and a woman who escaped this lab. The little girl is called a “watcher†and she can predict the future. Oh and there are others known as “shadows†who can help shield those in a bind. You sort of need a score card to figure out what’s going on, the players, and the side issues/clues. Whether you can figure the whole thing out I guess depends on your level of concentration.
Caught in the middle of this power play is Nick Gant, a man whose past foretells the present and maybe the future. Chris Evans (Cellular) plays Gant who seems to be contending with considerable stress. Lots of side plots make this story feel muddled with many opposing forces trying to converge on the carriers of these special powers. Military operative Henry Carver houses lots of pent-up anger and is nicely covered by Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond).
Child star Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) is cast as Cassie Holmes, one of Nick’s buddies who is saddled with some truly mystifying dialogue with Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls) steady as she goes as a babe on the run.
111 minutes of chases with tepid dialogue make Push an effort to understand. Throw in chaotic chases in Hong Kong, a Tong society of henchmen also in the hunt to obtain a special serum with super powers and some ridiculous fights all help make Push a rather confused effort to behold. This film also suffers from comparisons with a similar themed movie of a year ago called Jumper which relied on a similar theme that concerned the ability to project onerself into other places and different times.
Too much confusion can destroy a script and Push suffers from tugging onlookers in a number of different directions, not unlike the on the run characters in this rather muddled story whose violence at times seem chaotic and disjointed.
Read more reviews by Robert at www.moviereviewssite.com
