Push, a sci-fi thriller that's part X Men and part Incredible Hulk (not to mention part Jumper and part Heroes), is a coagulated mess, full of vim and vigor but unsure where it wants to go. It has a fine cast, but it often feels like a numbing video game, complete with quick cuts and slowed-down CGI effects. Its plot is often befuddling, as if it was scrawled by a hyperactive spider monkey who'd just had ten vials of crack explode in his stomach.
First up, the Incredible Hulk part - seems the ever-popular clandestine government agency is out to find people who have special powers (that'd be the X Men part). Powers, it should be noted, that the government itself gave to the people in the first place in an attempt to weaponize them. What sort of powers, you ask? Well, some can move objects with their minds. Some can push thoughts onto others. Some can see the future. Some can see an object's past through smell. Some can alter the shape of things for brief periods of time, some can heal, and some can wipe memories. So you can see why the always-nefarious government would want to get ahold of these powers.
Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning) is a Watcher, constantly drawing pictures of what she sees happening. Her mom is a prisoner of the Division, which is trying to track down another girl who's escaped from their clutches, the only person to survive injection of a new superdrug designed to enhance their abilities. Cassie believes that if she finds the girl and the hypodermic needle she's stolen, she'll be able to free her mother. She turns to Nick Gant (Chris Evans of Fantastic Four), a Mover on the run. In fact, everyone's on the run from the Division - in China, no less, a good setting for this kind of thing, what with a billion people living there. Head of the Division task force out to get this mysterious girl is Henry Carver (two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, playing a bad guy for once), who's naturally extremely endowed himself with paranormal abilities.
And all of this sounds sort of intriguing, if somewhat predictable - you know that the evil government agency has nothing but malevolent intentions with those who have these cursed abilities, but the plot is convoluted, needlessly complicated by endless double crosses and feints. To compensate for the opaque storyline, we get choppy edits and fast camera-work. The special effects seem to have been lifted right out of an old copy of Mortal Kombat; were I not in a crowded theater, I'd have shouted "Finish him!" a few times. Sometimes these effects are slowed down; you know, to show you how awesomely powerful the impact must be. Ouch, sucks to be him, right? Chris Evans is rather generic as the hero guy; one wonders what would have happened if an actor with some charisma were in the lead. Dakota Fanning, on the other hand, seems to have gotten past her awkward years on screen. She's no longer the cute little moppet, but she's not the listless, sullen preteen of War of the Worlds. Her Cassie is precocious, dressing a little like a streetwalker, maybe Madonna circa 1985, but she lends gravitas to the role that you wouldn't think possible from such a youngster. She's outstanding as the vulnerable, but tough, Watcher.
In the end, it's Fanning's work plus some interesting fight scenes that save this from being a complete disaster. The dumb script (cmon, people who can kill by shouting?) is overcome by only the loud, ceaseless soundtrack full of bad-music-video songs. Push isn't nearly intriguing enough to warrant a theater ticket.
First up, the Incredible Hulk part - seems the ever-popular clandestine government agency is out to find people who have special powers (that'd be the X Men part). Powers, it should be noted, that the government itself gave to the people in the first place in an attempt to weaponize them. What sort of powers, you ask? Well, some can move objects with their minds. Some can push thoughts onto others. Some can see the future. Some can see an object's past through smell. Some can alter the shape of things for brief periods of time, some can heal, and some can wipe memories. So you can see why the always-nefarious government would want to get ahold of these powers.
Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning) is a Watcher, constantly drawing pictures of what she sees happening. Her mom is a prisoner of the Division, which is trying to track down another girl who's escaped from their clutches, the only person to survive injection of a new superdrug designed to enhance their abilities. Cassie believes that if she finds the girl and the hypodermic needle she's stolen, she'll be able to free her mother. She turns to Nick Gant (Chris Evans of Fantastic Four), a Mover on the run. In fact, everyone's on the run from the Division - in China, no less, a good setting for this kind of thing, what with a billion people living there. Head of the Division task force out to get this mysterious girl is Henry Carver (two-time Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, playing a bad guy for once), who's naturally extremely endowed himself with paranormal abilities.
And all of this sounds sort of intriguing, if somewhat predictable - you know that the evil government agency has nothing but malevolent intentions with those who have these cursed abilities, but the plot is convoluted, needlessly complicated by endless double crosses and feints. To compensate for the opaque storyline, we get choppy edits and fast camera-work. The special effects seem to have been lifted right out of an old copy of Mortal Kombat; were I not in a crowded theater, I'd have shouted "Finish him!" a few times. Sometimes these effects are slowed down; you know, to show you how awesomely powerful the impact must be. Ouch, sucks to be him, right? Chris Evans is rather generic as the hero guy; one wonders what would have happened if an actor with some charisma were in the lead. Dakota Fanning, on the other hand, seems to have gotten past her awkward years on screen. She's no longer the cute little moppet, but she's not the listless, sullen preteen of War of the Worlds. Her Cassie is precocious, dressing a little like a streetwalker, maybe Madonna circa 1985, but she lends gravitas to the role that you wouldn't think possible from such a youngster. She's outstanding as the vulnerable, but tough, Watcher.
In the end, it's Fanning's work plus some interesting fight scenes that save this from being a complete disaster. The dumb script (cmon, people who can kill by shouting?) is overcome by only the loud, ceaseless soundtrack full of bad-music-video songs. Push isn't nearly intriguing enough to warrant a theater ticket.