Movie Info
Movie Year:
Cast:
Djimon Hounsou
,
Dakota Fanning
,
Camilla Belle
,
Chris Evans
,
Colin Ford
,
Joel Gretsch
,
Robert Tsonos
,
Brandon Rhea
,
Neil Jackson
,
Kai Cheung Leung
,
Sun Nan Hung
,
Corey Stoll
,
Scott Michael Campbell
,
Wai Man Tam
,
Hal Yamanouchi
Screenplay:
David Bourla
Genre:
Other,
Studio:
20th Century Fox
Genre:
Action/Adventure
Other
Horror/Suspense
Television
Romance
Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Thriller
Animation
Comedy
Documentary
Drama
Kids/Family
Studio:
DVD Release:
2009/07/07
Theater Release:
2009/02/06
Blu-ray Release:
2009/07/07
Blu-ray 3D Release:
No release information.
DVD Release:
(ex. 2002/10/21)
Synopsis:
Tagline:
One push can change everything.
Mar 10, 2009
In Paul McGuigan's dopey superhero techno-thriller, “Push,” the Asian mob bad guys' superpower is screaming really loud. I wish I could call them 'scr ...
In Paul McGuigan's dopey superhero techno-thriller, “Push,” the Asian mob bad guys' superpower is screaming really loud. I wish I could call them 'screamers,' but their "type" in the film is actually dubbed 'bleeders,' as their banshee wails make their adversaries' heads explode, and everything else within earshot (how pleasant). This stereotypical (intentionally so?), marginally insulting aspect is one of many, as “Push” traffics in uninspired and recycled superhero abilities we've seen a million times over in a bevy of other supernatural action flicks (“X-Men,” “The Matrix,” and last year's god awful “Babylon A.D.,” for example). The only thing that makes this movie just a tier or so above something like Doug Liman's loathsome "Jumper" (besides the fact that there's no Hayden Christensen in sight), is the sense that McGuigan's intention to entertain is earnest, and that the guy actually has some talent; various visual ticks and tricks convince that “Push” has style and panache to burn.
In fact, the film starts out as at least a passable genre flick, with some striking individual scenes and mostly tolerable (if hollow) performances. Above all, just about everybody here is likable (even if Chris Evans is still not living up to the reputation director Danny Boyle insists he deserves).
Set in China (because the city of Hong Kong is filled with enough shiny flashing lights to almost take our minds off the ridiculousness of this plot), “Push” finds Nick (Evans), a do-nothing slacker who's apparently toiled his life away in a rundown apartment and racked up a serious bad debt with local Chinese gamblers, hiding out from a particularly nasty U.S. government agency (is there any other kind?), dubbed Division, run by smooth operator and 'pusher' Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou of “Blood Diamond” and “Gladiator” fame), who killed Nick's father right before his eyes when Nick was just a boy.
Carver, Nick, and every other significant character in the film is endowed with a "type" of superpower, and labeled accordingly. As the hurried opening narration fragmentarily describes, this all has something to do with experiments performed on humans by the Germans in the nazi era, and perpetuated now by our government. And though I didn't follow the film close enough to quite get them all down, I know this much: As a pusher, Carver has the ability to put thoughts into other's heads, and make them believe convoluted realities that aren't really real (a tricky bit of tediousness which sinks the plot later on); Nick, meanwhile, is a 'mover,' which as you may have figured out allows him to 'move' (not to be confused with 'push,' as I did constantly) objects and people with his mind (think telekinesis). Other freakjobs include Cassie (Dakota Fanning), the wise-beyond-her-years clairvoyant, or 'watcher,' who foresees that everyone is going to die; and Kira (the lovely Camilla Belle), who just looks stoned through this entire thing. She too, like Carver, is a pusher.
The plot finds these three individuals (Nick, Cassie, and Kira) banding together with other beings of extraordinary power (one guy can shape-shift objects, another can cloak the existence of a person or place-- 'shifters' and 'shadows,' respectively) in an effort to take down Division and stop Carver from using some kind of superhuman serum to....zZZz. Oh, sorry, I just don't really care that much. Basically all you need to know is that there's a lot of fighting and special effects, which is what this clumsily plotted actioner would have done well to stick too.
In fact, this thing really only pulls, or I guess you could say pushes, its own weight during some of the early action scenes-- my head ached too much to appreciate the later ones-- and undoes even that amount of good will when the two pushers start to duke it out in a mental struggle for pushing supremacy. Did he push her to think that about herself? Is it true? Or is she pushing him to push her to think it's true? I don't know, and I don't care. Too much of the back half of “Push” is predicated on inane and convoluted twists and subplots and twisted subplots, that eventually you just feel like you've been pushed too far.
Last Word:
Draining, disappointing, uneven, and ultimately headache-enducing, “Push” takes what could have been a fun concept (and was for forty minutes or so) and starts taking itself to 'Matrix' levels of self-serious posturing. Eventually I just wished that I had superpowers of my own, so I could 'push' myself out of the theater.
==Written by Sam C. Mac==
==From: In Review Online (www.inreviewonline.com)==
In fact, the film starts out as at least a passable genre flick, with some striking individual scenes and mostly tolerable (if hollow) performances. Above all, just about everybody here is likable (even if Chris Evans is still not living up to the reputation director Danny Boyle insists he deserves).
Set in China (because the city of Hong Kong is filled with enough shiny flashing lights to almost take our minds off the ridiculousness of this plot), “Push” finds Nick (Evans), a do-nothing slacker who's apparently toiled his life away in a rundown apartment and racked up a serious bad debt with local Chinese gamblers, hiding out from a particularly nasty U.S. government agency (is there any other kind?), dubbed Division, run by smooth operator and 'pusher' Henry Carver (Djimon Hounsou of “Blood Diamond” and “Gladiator” fame), who killed Nick's father right before his eyes when Nick was just a boy.
Carver, Nick, and every other significant character in the film is endowed with a "type" of superpower, and labeled accordingly. As the hurried opening narration fragmentarily describes, this all has something to do with experiments performed on humans by the Germans in the nazi era, and perpetuated now by our government. And though I didn't follow the film close enough to quite get them all down, I know this much: As a pusher, Carver has the ability to put thoughts into other's heads, and make them believe convoluted realities that aren't really real (a tricky bit of tediousness which sinks the plot later on); Nick, meanwhile, is a 'mover,' which as you may have figured out allows him to 'move' (not to be confused with 'push,' as I did constantly) objects and people with his mind (think telekinesis). Other freakjobs include Cassie (Dakota Fanning), the wise-beyond-her-years clairvoyant, or 'watcher,' who foresees that everyone is going to die; and Kira (the lovely Camilla Belle), who just looks stoned through this entire thing. She too, like Carver, is a pusher.
The plot finds these three individuals (Nick, Cassie, and Kira) banding together with other beings of extraordinary power (one guy can shape-shift objects, another can cloak the existence of a person or place-- 'shifters' and 'shadows,' respectively) in an effort to take down Division and stop Carver from using some kind of superhuman serum to....zZZz. Oh, sorry, I just don't really care that much. Basically all you need to know is that there's a lot of fighting and special effects, which is what this clumsily plotted actioner would have done well to stick too.
In fact, this thing really only pulls, or I guess you could say pushes, its own weight during some of the early action scenes-- my head ached too much to appreciate the later ones-- and undoes even that amount of good will when the two pushers start to duke it out in a mental struggle for pushing supremacy. Did he push her to think that about herself? Is it true? Or is she pushing him to push her to think it's true? I don't know, and I don't care. Too much of the back half of “Push” is predicated on inane and convoluted twists and subplots and twisted subplots, that eventually you just feel like you've been pushed too far.
Last Word:
Draining, disappointing, uneven, and ultimately headache-enducing, “Push” takes what could have been a fun concept (and was for forty minutes or so) and starts taking itself to 'Matrix' levels of self-serious posturing. Eventually I just wished that I had superpowers of my own, so I could 'push' myself out of the theater.
==Written by Sam C. Mac==
==From: In Review Online (www.inreviewonline.com)==
Apr 23, 2009
The trouble with making a movie about groups of people with superpowers in a post-X-Men world is it has huge potential to feel like a rip-off. The TV ...
The trouble with making a movie about groups of people with superpowers in a post-X-Men world is it has huge potential to feel like a rip-off. The TV show Heroes is about the only successful example out there, and the only reason that managed to do it was because it was all about everyday people.
So along comes Push, an original (i.e. not based on a comic book or novel) action flick about — wouldn't you know it — people with superpowers. But despite some flourishes of creativity, some impressive action scenes (although an annoying lack of them), and great use of a relatively low budget to create some wowing special effects, Push is uninspired, unoriginal, and a waste of opportunity.
Push exhibits a world where superpowers are almost everyday occurrences, with abilities such as telekinesis and clairvoyance not out of the ordinary. It focuses on Nick (Chris Evans) and Cassie, two young people with powers who are being hunted by a secret agency that's hell bent on controlling the various superpowers. The two of them must try and track down a young woman who will enable them to evade the agency for good.
Everything from the initial plot synopsis to the poster, trailers, and beyond, gives off the scent of Heroes. A government agency trying to track down and control people with superpowers? And it's something Push never really breaks away from; there are flashes of creativity and some great action sequences (only not nearly enough) in there but you're constantly reminded that you've seen all this before. It would have been different if it had done something shocking with the sub-genre, thrown a wrench in the machine, but sadly it stays within expectations.
Now most of the fans of this type of movie will no doubt lap all of this up. Most won't care that it lounges about in the ditch of the conventional superpower character movies and just enjoy what it has to offer. And yes, there are parts of Push that are genuinely exciting and engaging, such as a brilliantly choreographed chase sequence through a Chinese marketplace and a fantastic near-end fight sequence. And during these sequences, even at points in between which call for it, it has some impressive special effects that defy the fairly low budget (when compared to other special effects-laden films). But that's about it; entertaining in places, wowing in others, but it's a case of "so what?" We've seen this kind of thing done before and beyond some surface glazes of action and special effects there's nothing special to be found here.
Chris Evans can be fun and entirely watchable in some roles and just plain annoying in others (such as when he played the Human Torch in the two Fantastic Four movies). Luckily Push sees him in the former category, bringing a likability and fun factor to what could have otherwise been a bland character. He plays off of the 15-year-old Dakota Fanning, someone shaping up to be one hell of a little actress, who goes against the cute and innocent persona she's mainly exuded up until this point. And playing the bad guy of the film, the head of the agency that wants to control these powers, is Djimoun Hounsou. Although not exactly suited to the role (in fact he kind of sticks out amongst everyone else), because of his pure acting ability he manages to make it work. Not exactly the most intimidating of villains, but when you take into consideration the style of the movie as a whole, it's really no wonder.
Most of Push functions as a sort of chase movie, where the main characters are either on the run or chasing after something themselves. This also adds to its list of problems; the idea of people having special abilities like these is a fascinating one on its own, and yet the screenplay by David Bourla makes everything feel like it's being rushed — just when you think you're going to see just how these powers work, we are whisked away yet again as the characters have to run off once more.
Director Paul Maguigan (who was responsible for the underrated Lucky Number Slevin, amongst others) clearly has an eye for visual flair. He brings a quick-paced style to all of his work and Push is no different. But that fast-paced nature of this film in particular allows for little cohesion when it tries to link its ambitious but nonetheless confused back story to the present goings on. We are told the gist of what the whole mythology is in a few minutes long voice-over by Cassie, but the problem is we are mainly told about it rather than shown it in any great detail. Being dropped into this world without being properly introduced to a lot of it results in a lack of cohesion that was very much needed for it to function properly.
This is a film clearly set up for a franchise to follow, not just because of the way it ends but just by the effort put in it creating this ambitious mythology. If Push 2 were to get made there needs to be a lot more time devoted to the actual superpowers themselves, how they function, what they look like when put into practise, and perhaps even why they're there in the first place. As it stands Push is a sometimes entertaining but ultimately uneven and unsatisfying action flick that only pales in comparison to some of the other similar pieces of super powered entertainment that's out there.
==Written by Ross Miller==
==From: Movie World (www.movie-world.moonfruit.com)==
So along comes Push, an original (i.e. not based on a comic book or novel) action flick about — wouldn't you know it — people with superpowers. But despite some flourishes of creativity, some impressive action scenes (although an annoying lack of them), and great use of a relatively low budget to create some wowing special effects, Push is uninspired, unoriginal, and a waste of opportunity.
Push exhibits a world where superpowers are almost everyday occurrences, with abilities such as telekinesis and clairvoyance not out of the ordinary. It focuses on Nick (Chris Evans) and Cassie, two young people with powers who are being hunted by a secret agency that's hell bent on controlling the various superpowers. The two of them must try and track down a young woman who will enable them to evade the agency for good.
Everything from the initial plot synopsis to the poster, trailers, and beyond, gives off the scent of Heroes. A government agency trying to track down and control people with superpowers? And it's something Push never really breaks away from; there are flashes of creativity and some great action sequences (only not nearly enough) in there but you're constantly reminded that you've seen all this before. It would have been different if it had done something shocking with the sub-genre, thrown a wrench in the machine, but sadly it stays within expectations.
Now most of the fans of this type of movie will no doubt lap all of this up. Most won't care that it lounges about in the ditch of the conventional superpower character movies and just enjoy what it has to offer. And yes, there are parts of Push that are genuinely exciting and engaging, such as a brilliantly choreographed chase sequence through a Chinese marketplace and a fantastic near-end fight sequence. And during these sequences, even at points in between which call for it, it has some impressive special effects that defy the fairly low budget (when compared to other special effects-laden films). But that's about it; entertaining in places, wowing in others, but it's a case of "so what?" We've seen this kind of thing done before and beyond some surface glazes of action and special effects there's nothing special to be found here.
Chris Evans can be fun and entirely watchable in some roles and just plain annoying in others (such as when he played the Human Torch in the two Fantastic Four movies). Luckily Push sees him in the former category, bringing a likability and fun factor to what could have otherwise been a bland character. He plays off of the 15-year-old Dakota Fanning, someone shaping up to be one hell of a little actress, who goes against the cute and innocent persona she's mainly exuded up until this point. And playing the bad guy of the film, the head of the agency that wants to control these powers, is Djimoun Hounsou. Although not exactly suited to the role (in fact he kind of sticks out amongst everyone else), because of his pure acting ability he manages to make it work. Not exactly the most intimidating of villains, but when you take into consideration the style of the movie as a whole, it's really no wonder.
Most of Push functions as a sort of chase movie, where the main characters are either on the run or chasing after something themselves. This also adds to its list of problems; the idea of people having special abilities like these is a fascinating one on its own, and yet the screenplay by David Bourla makes everything feel like it's being rushed — just when you think you're going to see just how these powers work, we are whisked away yet again as the characters have to run off once more.
Director Paul Maguigan (who was responsible for the underrated Lucky Number Slevin, amongst others) clearly has an eye for visual flair. He brings a quick-paced style to all of his work and Push is no different. But that fast-paced nature of this film in particular allows for little cohesion when it tries to link its ambitious but nonetheless confused back story to the present goings on. We are told the gist of what the whole mythology is in a few minutes long voice-over by Cassie, but the problem is we are mainly told about it rather than shown it in any great detail. Being dropped into this world without being properly introduced to a lot of it results in a lack of cohesion that was very much needed for it to function properly.
This is a film clearly set up for a franchise to follow, not just because of the way it ends but just by the effort put in it creating this ambitious mythology. If Push 2 were to get made there needs to be a lot more time devoted to the actual superpowers themselves, how they function, what they look like when put into practise, and perhaps even why they're there in the first place. As it stands Push is a sometimes entertaining but ultimately uneven and unsatisfying action flick that only pales in comparison to some of the other similar pieces of super powered entertainment that's out there.
==Written by Ross Miller==
==From: Movie World (www.movie-world.moonfruit.com)==
Complicated to the point of viewer exhaustion, Push is a hard-to-follow and often silly work of science fiction about refugees from a secret U.S. government program simply referred to as "the Division." Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans play the children of psychically gifted parents victimized by the Division. (She's a seer, he's got mild telekinetic abilities.) Neither wants to end up forced to cooperate with Djimon Hounsou's determined operator trying to create the ultra-"pusher," i.e., a subject so gifted they can work major miracles with their mind. The odd thing is that the story is set in China, where gang action and general exotica have a way of obscuring the story proper. Things get a little more interesting when the odd pairing of Fanning and Evans is joined by a few other interesting actors (Ming Na, Cliff Curtis, Camille Belle) playing ex-Division types with psychic abilities. For a while, an "X-Men"-like vibe starts to build, but then quickly dissipates in a script practically drunk on upending audience expectations every few minutes. Nearly two hours long, Push wears down one's tolerance pretty quickly, yet manages to leave one feeling as if the story is unfinished by end credits. --Tom Keogh
Movie Disc Details
Disc Version:
Runtime:
02:16:10
DVD Region:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Disc Type:
DVD
Aspect Ratio:
16:9
Video Format:
MPEG-2
Parental Control:
1
Video Signal:
NTSC
Layers:
1
Subtitles:
English (United States)
Korean (Korea)
Chinese (Taiwan)
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital








