Push Review
By Karen Dahlstrom
The Power of Shove
"What if nothing we did made any sense?" That line (uttered by Chris Evans) pretty much sums up "Push", a bewildering mishmash (or is it a stir-fry?) of action, sci-fi and heist plots set against the backdrop of modern-day Hong Kong.
A sketchy government agency — known only as The District — is on a worldwide hunt for people with paranormal abilities. Their mission: to create an army of super soldiers. Those who are captured are locked away in a secret lab. Those who refuse meet with a very unpleasant death at the hands of a "pusher" named Agent Carver (Djimon Hounsou).
Enter Nick (Evans), a second-generation telekinetic (or "mover"). Nick's been able to stay under The District's radar by hiding out in the bustle of Hong Kong (because who'll notice a a six-foot, blue-eyed hunk of white bread THERE?). Eventually, Nick is tracked down by District "sniffers" in search of a girl and a missing suitcase — both of which they believe to be connected to Nick. Also on his trail is Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a precocious 13-year old "watcher" who can see the future — a future that involves either finding the case and saving their kind...or dying in a bloody heap.
Nick's day goes from bad to worse when he discovers that the girl The District is looking for is his ex, Kira (Camilla Belle). A pusher like Agent Carver (she can implant thoughts in the minds of others), Kira has managed to escape the agency's secret lab, albeit with some memory loss and an itchy trigger finger. They also face a rival watcher and her brothers, the Pop Boys — winners of the Most Annoying Paranormal Power Ever. Called "bleeders", they can shatter glass (and eardrums) with the power of their voice.
It's now a race against time to find the missing case, though one would prefer they find a plot that makes any kind of sense. After taking great pains to set up the rules and mythology of their world, the filmmakers pay surprisingly little attention to following their tenets. Instead, director John McGuigan ("
Lucky Number Slevin") and writer David Bourla give us some folderol about dummy suitcases, secret messages and memory wipes, only to build to a disappointingly lackluster psychic battle royale. Not even the actors (particularly Belle and Hounsou) can hide their confusion. Fanning and Evans manage to inject some life and personality to their roles, but it's not long before they, too, appear to simply give up and coast to the end.
Despite being set in Hong Kong, there is nary a decent fight scene to be had in the entire film. Instead of hunting down some good wire men, McGuigan seems to have spent all his time shooting the crowded narrow streets and luridly-colored back rooms of the city. Perhaps it was time not entirely misspent, as the look of "Push" almost makes one forget the film's other shortcomings. Almost. In what could have been a refreshing take on the action/sci-fi genre, "Push" is all style, no substance.
