Review: Push (2009)

Director: Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin)

Cast: Chris Evans (Fantastic Four, Sunshine), Dakota Fanning (Coraline, Man on Fire), Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Gladiator), Camilla Belle (10000 BC), Cliff Curtis (Sunshine, The Fountain), Neil Jackson (Quantum of Solace), Nate Mooney, Xiao Lu Li

The Deal: Nick (Evans) is a Mover (someone with telekinetic abilities) hiding in Hong Kong from Division, a US agency that hunts and experiments on people with abilities. He meets Cassie (Fanning), a 13-year-old Watcher (someone who sees the future), who informs him that if they find Kira (Belle), a Pusher (someone who can push thoughts into other's minds), she will have a case worth $6 million. Unfortunately, Henry Carver (Hounsou), a Division agent and Pusher, is also pursuing Kira, as she escaped from Division. To make matters worse, a Watcher has also foreseen this case, and her family of Bleeders (people who yell until you bleed from your ears, nose, etc) seek to claim the prize themselves.

Thoughts: I've heard a lot of people comparing this film to Jumper. Though the ideas the two film's have are slightly similar, this film is a large cut above Jumper. The script isn't anything mind-blowing, but it is fast-paced, decently developed, and at times, fairly clever. Its feel approaches that of Heroes, though the extent of abilities is limited and there are plenty of people with duplicate powers. They don't touch on what all of the powers are, maybe there are hundreds, but they introduce us to a few nifty ones. Aside from the few I detailed above, there are also Sniffers (people who can track others from smells), Shifters (people who can alter the appearance of objects), Shadows (people who can hide others from sniffers and such), Wipers (people who can erase memories), and Stitchers (people able to heal others). All in all, the abilities are interesting and it's fun watching the different tricks they all use.

The performances here weren't great, but certainly passable. Dakota Fanning easily stood out in the film. She is incredibly mature and developed for her age, and her talent exceeds that of the rest of the cast. Her character is really the only one the viewer has any connection and care for, as you actually feel her emotions. Evans was decent, but he was not much better than he was in either of the Fantastic Four films. Hounsou has a nice bad guy look going for him, and Belle is a pretty face, but their performances weren't anything special. Though Cliff Curtis often gets over-looked since he always has supporting roles, I like what he brings to the table, and I thought his performance was one of the best in the film.

At times, the film was way too cheesy and somewhat illogical, but then it would have scenes that were not only cool, but quite clever. One such part is when Nick made out the cards and then had his mind wiped so that their actions could be unpredictable, therefore making it hard for the bad Watcher to see what they were going to do. The way that whole premise plays out was quite good, and probably the best part of the film. The way the film ended, it appears likely that there will be a sequel, or at least, it's left open enough to do one. I'm not against that idea, as it would be cool and probably just as decent as this, but there is a lot of room to improve the script. The flashes of brilliance were there, but not anywhere near frequent enough.

Verdict: A fast-paced "super powers" film. Though the script isn't great, and the acting was merely adequate, it was entertaining and interesting. ☆☆☆