Push (2009) - Movie Review

Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning Psych-Out in this Action Film Renter

Aug 16, 2009

The expression, "it's a renter," was meant for movies like Summit Entertainment's Push, an action film of moderate interest.

For those looking to rent a soulful tale filled with intrigue, thrills, and powerful performances, Push does not deliver. For those seeking out-of-this-world special effects and gut-wrenching action, Push falls considerably short. For those seeking to drop a few bucks on a somewhat mindless but enjoyable action flick with mediocre acting and simplistic execution, Push will not fail to satisfy.

Behind the lens for Push, Paul McGuigan, director of Wicker Park and Lucky Number Slevin, could not reproduce the magic that was Slevin. Then again, he had Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman, Lucy Liu and Josh Hartnett carrying the weight in Slevin. In Push, he had the very talented Djimon Hounsou paired with a limitedly skilled Chris Evans, a robotic Camilla Belle, and a no-longer-little-girl-sweet Dakota Fanning. Nevertheless, Push succeeds well enough in the forum for which it was recently released (July 7, 2009), the DVD rental.

Watchers, movers, pushers, shifters, shadowers, bleeders... these are but some of the different names for Push's telepathic, telekinetic, and other suped-up psychic psychotics. Much like Banshee and Siren from the X-Men comic book series, bleeders wail until their victims' heads explode. Over-thinking this movie's plot is also likely to make one's head explode.

The movie opens with Nick Gant, a child, watching his father being executed by Agent Henry Carver (Hounsou) of the Division," a government agency that wants to create an army of psychics. Nick escapes.

Ten years later, an unconscious Kira (Belle) is injected with an experimental drug designed to enhance her power, the ability to control another's thoughts and actions. Carver looks on. With the help of her newly enhanced powers, Kira escapes.

The scene shifts to Hong Kong, where adult Nick (Evans) attempts to use his weak telekinetic abilities to make money gambling. Cassie (Fanning), a clairvoyant of limited power, seeks him out, eventually convincing him to help find Kira, as she may hold the key to freeing their kind from the Division. Conversely, the Division hunts Kira to learn the secrets of her enhanced powers and her ability to withstand the usually fatal injection. From there on, Push is a battle of psychics versus psychics, with seemingly everyone in the film having some sort of special power. Nick and Cassie enlist support and clash with the Division in a race to find Kira.

Evans was fun to watch in Fantastic Four and Cellular. His character in Push is more of the same and certainly not monumental. Fanning (Man on Fire, Hide and Seek, War of the Worlds) may be one of the greatest child actresses of all time. Still, her performance in Push is flat, devoid of depth or feeling. To her credit, the character was intended to be somewhat stoic, but in the few scenes in which her true emotions were set free, viewers will not feel them. Hounsou (Amistad, Gladiator, Blood Diamond) failed to intimidate or even convince as Evans' archenemy. The chemistry between the two mixed as well as oil and water. And Belle (The Patriot, When a Stranger Calls, 10,000 B.C.) appeared empty and matched it with an empty performance.

Still, guys throwing things with their minds like some second-rate Yodas is good fun. The powers and the action make the movie, and they are enough to make it enjoyable. In sum, it's a renter.

The copyright of the article Push (2009) - Movie Review in Action Films/Thrillers is owned by Jason Parent. Permission to republish Push (2009) - Movie Review in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.