Push |
  • USA / Canada • 2009 • 111m •    • Directed by: Paul McGuigan. • Starring: Colin Ford, Joel Gretsch, Djimon Hounsou, Dakota Fanning, Robert Tsonos, Brandon Rhea, Camilla Belle, Neil Jackson, Chris Evans, Kai Cheung Leung, Hsin Nan Hung, Corey Stoll, Scott Michael Campbell. • Music by: Neil Davidge.      A group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities are 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.
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Review:
Okay now, Spoilers ahead. The plot: Men and women, each with a unique ability ranging from telekinesis to healing to killing with sonic vocal abilities to mind control (pushing their thoughts and memories into unsuspecting minds, hence the title) are hunted by the government agents of "Division" and underworld criminals, each group wanting to exploit their superhuman skills for their own ends. We follow Chris Evans as the "Mover" (telekinetic) Nick and Dakota Fanning as the "Watcher" (psychic) Cassie as they become the latest targets of these agents and must live on the run and in hiding or learn to hone their skills and fight for their lives. Their hope for survival and a future potentially free of their pursuers comes in the form of a 'pusher' named Kira. Kira is one of the few to escape the clutches of the Division, and the suitcase she has stolen that contains a precious item the duo can use as a bargaining chip against Division.
My humble opinion is that "Push" is stylish, it's truly unpredictable, it's interesting, and it left me wanting to visit the characters again and see what happens to them after they ride off into the sunset. I found it to be quite a refreshing change from most of what's the cinema has offered of late.
The cast does a great job, particularly Chris and Dakota. (Admittedly, I'm biased because I always enjoy watching Chris and would have seen it for no other reason than his presence in the movie). I found the characters to be well-developed and interesting. Yes, I'd have liked to see more time spent exploring their relationships, but there's only so much running time you can get away with in an action flick before you get complaints about 'being draggy'. It has a nice balance of character moments and bone-jarring action sequences, with each confrontation with the villains upping the ante as Cassie's prophecies grow more grim and Nick becomes progressively more adept at using his telekinetic abilities against the villains hunting him and Cassie. I like that the good guys don't just have to out-fight the villains, they have to learn to out-fox them as well.
As for a couple of the comments that I've read: First, I thought the similarities to "X-Men" and "Heroes" that have been mentioned so much are superficial at best. Second, I personally like a movie that doesn't spoon-feed me an explanation of every little event and detail. We're smart people, we can fill in some of the blanks with our own imaginations and "Push" provides sufficient back story and information for the viewer to do so...if you pay attention. And, really, if a movie can't keep your attention and leave you with a little something to ponder after wards, what's the point of my watching it? "Push" held my interest for the entire running time.
If it feels open-ended, I think it's because there is enough potential with the universe "Push" creates and its variety of quirky, uniquely talented characters (heroes and villains, some seen, some only referred to)to fill two or three sequels exploring them all. Alas, that probably won't happen as the meager publicity will harm this movie's box office take more than anything. Those of us who like "Push" will have to content ourselves with seeing it again on DVD and letting our imaginations fill in those blanks as well, I suppose.
Review by lln_books from the Internet Movie Database.
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