Review: ‘Push’

Jeremy:

‘Push’, the inventive new actioner from director Paul McGuigan, is the first “must-see† film of 2009. It’s the complete negative image of ‘Jumper’. That film probably should have been cooler in execution than it was. ‘Push’ is a film that is so much cooler than it probably should be, but I’m not complaining. It’s interesting to think that ‘Push’ is getting unfairly compared to ‘Jumper’ by people who probably haven’t even seen the film. ‘Jumper’ was directed by Doug Liman. Liman directed the beyond cool, 2002 ‘The Bourne Identity’. ‘Push’ is the coolest action film since ‘The Bourne Identity’.

Like ‘Jumper’, ‘Push’ is an original story, written by David Bourla, about people with superhuman abilities and the shadowy, government agency that is trying to stop/control them. Unlike ‘Jumper’ there are many differing abilities to be found in ‘Push’, all of which center around telekinetic and psychic abilities. There are Movers, who can move objects with their minds; Pushers, who can “push† thoughts and memories into other people’s minds; Watchers, who can see specific events in their future; and several others.

This film centers on one specific Mover, Nick Gant, played by Chris Evans. He is doing his best to stay off the radar of The Division, the agency who is attempting to control those with abilities. Nick is brought out of hiding by Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a Watcher who believes a lone Mover, Kira (Camilla Belle), holds the secret to bringing down The Division once and for all.

It doesn’t take Nick and Cassie long to find Kira, and the film quickly becomes a cat-and-mouse thriller with the trio being hunted by agents of The Division, as well as several other ability-stricken people who want Kira for their own devices.

‘Push’ isn’t wall-to-wall action. It takes its time setting the characters in motion almost like a slow-starting chess game, but it is never boring. Most of this is due to McGuigan’s phenomenal directing style. Sometimes the shots are smooth as silk. Other times, they are extremely grainy. He shifts between moving his camera around the characters and holding steady on close-ups of their faces rapidly.

However, these differing styles of filmmaking never feel patch worked or uneven. This is due to the incredible job the film’s editor, Nicolas Trembasiewicz, does in piecing the film together. He does a masterful job of hitting certain shots in the exact, appropriate time to create the maximum level of emotion or intensity to any scene.

Trembasiewicz’s editing also does a lot of service to the action scenes. Switching between viewpoints (the good guys and the bad guys) erratically can oftentimes leave the audience confused or numbed. However, Trembasiewicz does it in such a way that it helps progress the action scenes along. One particular scene where Nick and another Mover are floating handguns around a room trying to get at one another is extremely imaginative.

Between McGuigan’s direction and Trembasiewicz’s editing, the film is incorporated with a very cool, European sensibility. It is almost a shame that they had to set the film in any specific, real place. Fifteen years ago, before this practice became clichà ©d, it would have been interesting to set the film in a nonspecific locale. That is another thing McGuigan is incredible at. He never takes the obvious approach to any scene or to any plot development. There are many surprises to be had in ‘Push’. The exploding fishes were a nice touch. You’ll understand when you see the film.

There are certain elements to the film that are just inherently cool. Evans, who is becoming quite the go-to guy for this kind of acting, and Djimon Hounsou, as the film’s mysterious villain, are just a few, but it takes a real master to make Ms. Fanning emit any amount of coolness. Even Dakota Fanning is cool here.

The film is also extremely intelligent in the way it is written. There are moments of exposition, but they are very naturalistic in the way they are presented. Most exposition seems obvious and aberrant, but it doesn’t seem to be for the audience’s benefit alone when it is integrated into ‘Push’. Some of the surprises are not altogether unpredictable, but they are generally presented in original and unpredictable ways.

I won’t give the film’s ending away in the least bit but to say that this could work on one of two levels. Like ‘The Matrix’, it ends in such a way that they could turn it into a franchise. It could also work well as a stand-alone film, a rather large difference from the way ‘Jumper’ left us with a completely open end.

McGuigan and co. have crafted an overall hip and mind-blowing experience with ‘Push’. Exponentially cooler than Heroes and a much better “first film of a series† than ‘Jumper’, it melds all the best elements of some of the best action films of recent memory and adds a few nice surprises of its own. It absolutely is one of the coolest action films seen in recent memory, and it is the first “best action film of the year† to be found in 2009.

[Overall: 4.5 stars out of 5]

Travis:

‘Push’ is a movie I had to struggle not to impose pre-conceived judgment on and honestly, I did my best. While I wasn’t entirely disappointed in the film, it really didn’t excel to the level of “coolness” that it could have. My primary concern was that ‘Push’ would ultimately end up being ‘Heroes: The Motion Picture’. While it does maintain a strong resemblance to the “save the cheerleader, save the world” theme from ‘Heroes: Season One’ this movie does actually have some merit of it’s own.

Chris Evans stars as Nick Gant, a man with telekinetic powers that he hasn’t yet mastered. He becomes entangled in a complicated plot that involves a mysterious case and an unknown woman who is the key to stopping something that could change the world for the worse. A 13-year old girl named Cassie (Dakota Fanning) finds him and insists that he help her find the woman, who will lead them to the case. Cassie is a “Watcher” which means she can see the future and Nick is a “Mover” which means he can move things with his mind. This theme of psychically enhanced abilities runs throughout the movie, including such street designations as Pushers, Bleeders, Shifters and Stitches. I could explain all of these, but it’s a little more fun to discover what it all means as you watch the movie.

Djimon Hounsou plays Carver, a Pusher that works for Division (this name struck me as a weakly devised double-entendre) and is also seeking the woman and the case. In a slight shift from conventional story structure, a family of Chinese Bleeders are also after these two targets in hopes of using what’s in the case for their own advantage. The daughter in this family is a Watcher of a different sort from Cassie and the two characters are in a constant rivalry throughout the story.

In the grand scheme of things, the movie maintained my attention and interest well enough to have me entertained and curious enough to keep guessing and thinking ahead, but what drags the movie down is the acting and especially the dialogue. The writing in ‘Push’ had me constantly reminding myself to let it go and just enjoy the story. I found the dialogue to be annoyingly redundant and cliche. No one actor stood out in their performance and the cast delivered a mediocre to average presentation of skill with one exception. I realize Dakota Fanning is still just a child, but she has some improving to do on her thespian abilities if she hopes to maintain a serious acting career beyond her pre-teen years.

On a technological level, ‘Push’ is not about to amaze anyone with it’s special effects but it does do a wonderful job of using the resources it has to convey the crucial “sci-fi/fantasy” elements of the story successfully without over-emphasizing the use of CGI. One scene that particularly impressed me in this sense was a fight between Nick and another Mover near the end whereas the two characters proceed to pound the Hell out of each other, mano-a-mano with telekinetically-enhanced maneuvers of close-combat fighting. By far, the way in which the Movers are portrayed in ‘Push’ definitely pass the “Holy Cow! That’s cool and I wanna be able to do that!” test.

[Overall: 2.75 stars out of 5]

Ram Man:

Push is the first film of 2009 I was excited to see. Why??? First it is directed by Paul McGuigan who delivered one of my all-time favorite films in 2006 ‘Lucky Number Slevin’. I also had already read the first three issues of the comic book and I was impressed. Casting was a little less than desirable though,   Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) , Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) and Dakota Fanning (Man on Fire), didn’t send chills down my spine. I was still pumped to see ‘Push’

Push is the story of a group of humans possessing special abilities on the run from a secret government organization, known as the Division. Nick Gant (Evans) is a “mover” (slang for a person with the ability to move things with his mind). Gant has been flying under the radar until his ex- girlfriend Kira (Camilla Belle) breaks out of Division headquarters with a syringe of some experimental drug they have been testing on the “special people”.   Kira is a powerful “pusher” (a person who is able to plant memories and thoughts in your head). so Division sends their top agent Carver (Hounsou) after her. Carver also a talented “pusher”   has some competition in finding the girl and the drug, a crime family of “bleeders” (group of people that scream so loud that your brain melts and you bleed out of every orifice).

Gant has some help with this cat-n-mouse chase to find the girl. Cassie Holmes (Fanning) is a second generation “watcher” (a person able to see and draw the future), told by her mother to find Gant and help him recover the girl. Cassie wants to recover the drug and trade it for her mother, a prisoner of the Division. The problem, Cassie and Gant are both still perfecting their abilities and continually coming face to face with the other teams while searching for Kira. Cassie also informs Gant she keeps seeing the same vision of the future…both of them DEAD!

Push is a big screen Heroes meet the X-Files. It has some action and the majority of the effects are not-so special. My favorite scene is when Fanning goes on a binge to clear her head, and tells the group they are all going to die with a few expletives thrown in. While Push was entertaining and a great concept, it didn’t translate well from the page to the screen. If you are a fan of sci-fi and like shows like Heroes (NBC) then I would recommend checking out ‘PUSH’ at a matinee for a few bucks, otherwise there are good shows on TV for free (Fringe, Heroes)Â  or you will probably be able to check ‘PUSH’ on DVD in a month or so.

[overall: 2.5 stars out of 5]